Passages of Babel

Conversation is an art. It requires knowing and doubting, strong senses and a flexible mind, playfulness and depth or maybe just sheer curiosity. Passages of Babel is a place for conversation. It is particularly interested in language and translation. It focuses on the space in between two or several idiolects -in the words of George Steiner. It is a bare tower, exposed to the open skies and drafty. The walls fold/unfold to better migrate towards meaningful exchanges. Several of these discussions will take the form of an artists’ book, exhibited in the tower and printed as series of zines/booklets and digital content to better spread ideas and continue the conversation. Arise by Any Other Name is the first of these collaborations, with poet and writer Samuel Mignot. This was followed in 2024 by A comme Babel with poet, translator and researcher Guillaume Métayer. The final book in the project is Making Sense, a collaboration with thirteen poets and translators who each contributed a text inspired by the word sense as defined in the Dictionary of Untranslatables.