Mamuka will present two performances that use bi-lingual sound-play to examine new trans-cultural subjective meanings and various sensory forms of language and speech. He will interrogate how the sounds, tones, accents and rhythms of language produce meaningful and meaningless statements. Followed by talk with Ella Gibbs and Q&A session with the artist.
 

Foreignness of Sound is curated by Katarzyna Sobucka and produced by Arts Territory with support from the European Commission.

Located on the peripheries of Europe and Asia, the mountain range of the Caucasus forms a narrow land bridge between the Black and Caspian seas. For centuries, the area’s complex and multifaceted cultural heritage and linguistic variety has been renowned. Dubbed ‘the mountain of tongues’ by tenth-century Arab geographers, this small territory that has been divided, united and re-divided repeatedly throughout history boasts one of the highest concentrations of indigenous tongues in the world. There are 40–50 Caucasian languages spoken among 8 million people, in communities ranging in size from only a few hundred people to large national groups of millions. These languages fall into three main groups, but none has been decisively linked to any other language on earth. Often characterized by an enormous number of consonants but a minimal vowel system, each tongue is unique, possessing its own composition, form and dynamic.
 
Katarzyna Sobucka is the founder and curator at Arts Territory, and the director of Jazz and Experimental Music from Poland. She holds a BA (Hons) in History of Art from Goldsmiths College, University of London and an MA in Culture Criticism and Curation from Central St Martins College of Arts and Design, London.
 
Transkaukazja is an international festival that presents works from or inspired by contemporary Caucasus. Initiated in 2004 by Polish organisation Other Space Foundation, it aims to foster cultural exchange between the Caucasus region and the rest of the Europe.  Arts Territory is one of nine co-organizers of Transkaukazja 2014 and is responsible for producing the UK programme.

Mamuka Japharidze
Georgian artist Mamuka Japharidze (b.1962) lives and works in Tbilisi, occasionally spending time in the UK. He works across a broad range of art media, using sound and language to construct work which he presents as physical performances as well as exhibitions/installations. He represented Georgia at the 48th Venice Biennale.

Foreignness of Sound

11 | 15 | 16   December 2014

ICA | SOAS | OTOProjects

Foreignness of Sound addresses the relationship between language, sound and the concept of national and human communication, in the context of multiplicity of languages and identities in the region of Caucasus. The project represents the UK instalment of the Transkaukazja festival.

The event will be structured as a three-day series of performances and panels. It will feature discussions and insights from established artists, curators and academics, with its main focus on aspects of language and identity variation in the region of Caucasus. The events will be held at the ICA, SOAS & Café Oto’s new performance space: OTOProjects

The audience will get a chance to personally integrate with practitioners and find out more about the nature of various forms of cultural communication and the important role that language plays in forming a national identity in Caucasus.