Born in 1994, lives and works between The Hague, Netherlands, and Italy.
Following in the footsteps of feminist and decolonial authors and activists, Adele Dipasquale asks: which expressions, which languages can exist outside of dominant patriarchal discourses? Through writing, analog film, performances and vocal experimentations, the artist engages in linguistic and communicational resistance, in search of an emancipatory voice. Silence, the unintelligible, the esoteric and children's encoded dialects then become various resilient, rebellious and autonomous stances, active refusals to align with the tone of oppression.
In the course of their research, they came to realize the obvious: words form worlds, set parameters for our realities. They hold both normative power and subversive potential, a paradox that can only be regarded as magic. In order to break the spell of conformity, Adele Dipasquale's recent work suggests fully investing the territory of the esoteric, offering our bodies to the resonance of silenced voices. Through a practice of collective homage and embodied reference, they aspire to produce an ungraspable polyphony, a subversive and multiple heritage that frees itself from the prescriptions of language.
Adele Dipasquale (IT), etaïnn zwer (FR), Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir (IS)
27th of February 2025, 6.30 - 9 p.m.
at Artistes en résidence, la Diode
190, bd Gustave Flaubert, Clermont-Ferrand
Sigrún. Adele. etaïnn. Three names whose musicality is tinged with a gentle strangeness for ears accustomed to French consonances. Three names that could belong to Monique Wittig's Guérillères (1), a narrative punctuated by enigmatic, hypnotic lists of names. The three eponymous artists have been hosted by Artistes en Résidence in Clermont-Ferrand over the past few weeks: Sigrún is Icelandic and based in Amsterdam, Adele is Italian but living and working in The Hague, and etaïnn, a Frenchperson, is based in Berlin. Each of them with their own specific cultural background play with language, words, sounds, songs, whispers. Whether it's etaïnn zwer's poetry of desire, Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir's operas or Adele Dipasquale's voices from the beyond: they all give speech to the unexpected, the repressed, the forgotten, what is usually shushed or ignored. They unearth writings that academia tries to silence, and give voice to those who have none: gender minorities, activits, people of color or from underprivileged social classes… . A multitude of alternative voices resonate at La Diode, voices that have always been discredited by associating them with madness, irrationality and a threatening otherness. Here, the artists restore the transformative power of words. Speaking in tongues, glossolalia (2), söngur sírenanna (3), lingue di fuoco (4), écritures inclusives (5) and magical sayings come together in a radical, colorful polyphony, capable de faire trembler les fondations de la domination (6), di bruciare il patriarcato (7), of caring for vernd hinna glötuðu vistkerfa (8). And who knows, maybe their revolutionary vocalizations will end in a multilingual, militant and joyful karaoke.
This text has been written by a collective intelligence.
(1) Monique Wittig, Les Guérillères, Les éditions de minuit, 1969
(2) Speaking in tongues and glossolalia are synonyms that designate a vocalization of speech-like syllables with no easily comprehensible meaning, often regarded by believers as divine or spiritual languages unknown to the person who serves as a vehicle.
(3) Icelandic for The siren songs, Greek mythology.
(4) Italian for Tongues of fire, Christian mythology.
(5) French for Inclusive writings.
(6) French for "Capable of cracking the foundations of domination"
(7) Italian "Burn the patriarchy".
(8) Icelandic for "the protection of our lost ecosystems".