There is an overwhelming hegemonic presence of English in the art and funding worlds, both online and offline. Despite the ideal that visual art transcends language, English fluency significantly impacts artists' opportunities. Non-fluent speakers often face difficulties in making connections, affecting their careers, and are more quickly labeled as "exotic" in global art spaces.
Cover: from the series "TikTok on Tibetan Plateau " by photographer and 2022 Seed Awardee, Xiangyu Long.
The online event “Language, Technology, Power”, taking place on 29 August at 15:00 (CEST), brings together three artists from the Fund’s network—translator Wirunwan Victoria Pitaktong, photographer Sofiane Bakouri, and visual artist Alexis Villanueva Niebles—to share their experiences and reflections on issues surrounding language and technology in relation to access and sustainable artistic networks.
Recent technological developments, particularly in Natural Language Processing (NLP), have changed cross-language communication. Automated translation is now cheaper, more reliable, and more seamless, becoming integral to how many artists communicate with funders. While useful, these technologies cause concerns. Driven by for-profit companies in the global north, language technologies disproportionately prioritize European languages.
This raises some urgent questions: Are artists speaking so-called “low-resource languages” being further excluded from opportunities because of these technological gaps? How do practitioners relying on these technologies balance verbal and written communication? And, more practically, how can the Prince Claus Fund increase accessibility of its funding, and especially in its work of building connections for artists who are not comfortable working in English?
Join us on 29 August at 15:00 (CEST) via the Zoom link below!
Featuring
The three panelists will respond to the questions outlined above while simultaneously considering how to make sure the voices of those who can easily communicate in English do not overshadow the needs of those who do not speak the language.
About Seeing Like a Fund
"Seeing Like a Fund" is an event series by the Prince Claus Fund, which brings together cultural changemakers from the Fund’s network to critically examine vital issues shaping how culture is supported globally, sparking new ways of thinking about and doing funding.
