Translating Gil

The process of translating José Gil was an experiment with another way of reading and inhabiting words, looking at the process of translation as act of miscommunication; taking an embodied practice that affected me deeply. It was a process that provoked a strong sense of disquietude, as it challenged my perception of my own history, and how I inscribe my self as Portuguese woman and maker. Again it was very uncomfortable to “say” things that I do not agree with or do not want to deal with. It was a very new way of studying a concept and ideas so attached to the exact words and rhythm with which an author chooses to express them. It was also a physically painful process, that made me at some point restless.

The process of translation was also a process initiating a series of conversations with Maartje Fliervoet and the public at Manifold during a two months period; in this way opening the translation to other acts of miscommunication, other embodiments.