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Just To Get Around Brixton explores the intersection of languages and sites in the linguistic barrier that a group of Latin American women encounter while living in London. The dynamics of language are anchored to geopolitical power dynamics, which often create barriers, in addition to physical human-made borders in the built environment. In the context of globalisation, London stands as one of the most multicultural cities in the world, where many languages co-exist and cross-pollinate.
This project conveys narratives tied to the nostalgia of identity and culture experienced in one's mother tongue in a foreign ‘langscape’ in the form of site-specific audio guides, an artist’s book and a film. Just To Get Around Brixton is an ongoing project that forms a collection of curated audios interwoven in Spanish and English, aiming to capture the experience of grappling with thoughts and self-expression in both, one's native language and a foreign tongue as a site of cultural translation.
Portraits taken at LAWA (Latin American Women’s Aid) of some of the women who have lent their voices and stories for the creation of the situated audio guides.
The live intervention was carried out on October 19, 2023, in the form of a site-specific audio guide through the streets of Brixton.
Image Credits: Andrea Izurieta, Yen Huang
‘Foreign Langscapes’, explores language challenges of Latin American women in London. It depicts daily life scenes in Latin American establishments, narrating personal stories of resilience amid language barriers.
The artist’s book interweaves English and Spanish, to continue experimenting with two languages simultaneously as the situated audio guides.