If words are to be sounded is a joint exhibition project by CAP • Saint-Fons, GAK Bremen, and Le 19, Crac, Montbéliard, exploring language as a performative medium of the imaginary.
The project emerged from a close exchange between our three French-German institutions, initiated in 2024 and driven by a shared interest in the diverse forms and circulations of the concept of “value.” Our dialogue unfolded against a backdrop of mounting pressure and the divisions imposed upon languages—forces that constantly challenged our relationship with words, whether past or present.
The exhibition If words are to be sounded is the outcome of this Franco-German collaboration. It took as its starting point a collective engagement with the poetic and eclectic body of work of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951–1982). Accordingly, we present a curated selection of video and audio pieces, image series, and text collages in which Cha navigates memory and loss through a constant intertwining of words, languages, punctuation, and sound; we view these works as both an invitation and a scenographic framework for the contributions of Pierre Allain, Claire Fontaine, Shadi Harouni, and Mira M. Yang. Permeated by themes of memory, borders, resistance, vulnerability, and transmission, the works gathered here address the value—and values—of words, exploring the possibility of redefining relationships.
With a keen awareness of social transformation and the irony characteristic of her practice, the artist collective Claire Fontaine (founded in 2004) presents pieces from the *brickbat* series alongside neon works that address values, processes of value creation, and the absence of a shared foundation for them. Pierre Allain’s (b. 1998) artistic practice centers on a form of incommunicability—the vulnerability of bodies—as well as on perception and listening during states of transformation or unconsciousness. The works of Shadi Harouni (b. 1985) explore the political and poetic dimensions of language, focusing particularly on Kurdish—a language shaped by oppression, exile, and diaspora. Through a video piece and new textile works, the artist examines the connections between language, territory, and resistance. Mira M. Yang (b. 1993) draws upon the story of Shim Cheong—a figure from Korean Pansori, a tradition of sung storytelling that emerged in the 17th century within the context of shamanic practices. Yang weaves together ancestral narratives and memories of her own mother, investigating family lore, experiences of displacement, and the constructs of memory associated with exile.
By bringing together diverse experiences of language, exile, and memory, the exhibition creates a space for reflection on how words, images, and bodies contribute to the emergence of new forms of attentiveness, coexistence, and—at times—resistance. Individuals use language to interpret the world, establish rules, and communicate. It enables and regulates social existence, conveys values, and necessitates constant translation. When language ceases to serve as a foundation and shared values are lost—even as we continue to believe it offers a concrete point of orientation—where might new forms of closeness and new meanings arise?
The exhibition cycle begins in the summer of 2026 at CAP • Saint-Fons, followed by the GAK Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst Bremen in the autumn of 2026, and finally Le 19, Crac Montbéliard in the spring of 2027.
Curated by Annette Hans, Adeline Lépine, and Alessandra Prandin.
Funding
As part of the PERSPEKTIVE fund for contemporary art & architecture, an initiative of the Bureau des arts plastiques of the Institut français d’Allemagne. Supported by the French Ministry of Culture, the Institut français de Paris and the Goethe Institut.
Funding GAK Bremen: Karin und Uwe Hollweg Stiftung, Beate + Hartmut Schaefers Stiftung, Partnerschaften für Demokratie in Bremen, gefördert vom Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend im Rahmen des Bundesprogramms Demokratie leben, Sparkasse Bremen, Senator für Kultur der Freien und Hansestadt Bremen