Exhibition “Where My Words Belong”

My friend, who is married to a guy who speaks a different language, says, "When we get into a fight, we actually don't argue too much because I've given up trying to communicate what I really want to say. That's just comfortable to me." I was somewhat convinced by what she said.

I like to travel abroad, and I sometimes feel delighted when I can communicate with local people, even though the stress of communication is always there.

I wanted to know what happens when people translate between native and non-native languages. So, I visited the exhibition “Where My Words Belong” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.

What was most interesting to me was that language deeply relates to your identity and feelings. There is no superiority or inferiority in race and culture. Still, it was very interesting to see how people's attitudes toward their mother tongue change depending on how they perceive their identity. The mindset of where you belong affects what and how you speak. For example, you tend to hide where you are from when you feel you’re discriminated against or marginalized in a community.

That made me recall when I was in North America amid the Covid pandemic; I once got terrible verbal abuse in the street because I’m Asian. I felt fear then, but now I think the person who said those words may have also felt some fear.

After the exhibition, I felt that “words” always have some weight, which may be light or heavy. Words can make us feel lonely or connected to others, and “words” one person uses to influence another. Everyone speaks a slightly different language, so they learn to understand that dialect and language.

The exhibition made me feel I want to treat “words” with care and respect.