Conversations [Do you understand?]
When I came to Scotland to learn English, I arrived without the knowledge of the language and became acutely aware of a gesture as my only means of communication. It took me years to be able to understand the nuances of local humour and to tell jokes in English, and yet this ease of communication is crucial to being recognised as familial. But speaking the same language is not the end of the story. Understanding each other is a much more complex concept and this work, just as the wider Conversations series, is my reflection, and my invitation for you to consider: What happens when a gesture is all that you can go on, the only means of communication? Amongst the voices which are non-comprehensible? Amongst the words that you understand but the meaning of which escapes you? When your calls for justice and peace are unheard or misinterpreted? When you reach out but are rejected? Just ponder, please.
