Translation is dialog is a project developed by the artist Arlene Tucker (TW/USA) who lives and works in Joutsa, Finland. Arlene was artist in residence at Skaftfell in September 2021 and March 2022, supported by the Nordic Baltic Mobility Programme (Nordic Culture Point). Arlene’s socially engaged work utilizes translation studies, semiotics, and feminist practices.
As part of BRAS, a cultural festival for children and young people in East Iceland, Arlene was teaching an introductory workshop to the project for students at Egilsstaðir High School under the guidance of teachers Ólafur Bjarkar (Lóa) Bragadóttir and Heiðdís Halla Bjarnadóttir.
Translation is dialog encourages and facilitates conversations between young people from different cultures and parts of the world, using a variety of artistic methods to interpret and translate each other’s artistic creations. Working through the project’s website, participants get to choose from an online archive of artworks by other young people across the world, and are then encouraged to interpret and translate this artwork in their own way. Many different media are possible, including sound and text. At the core of the project is the idea to support a cross-cultural interest, empathetic approach and connection between young people from different parts of the world through individual creativity.
You can find out more about the project and previous participants at https://www.translationisdialogue.org/
