Une Traduction Infidèle

Language learning is a common thread in Ahilan Ratnamohan's work. In Alle woorden die ik nog niet kende, he looked closer at Dutch and his latest creation Une Traduction Infidèle starts from his fervent desire to learn French.

Ahilan realises that after seven years in Belgium, he has no Walloon friends. Everything he knows about Wallonia or French-speaking culture in Brussels, he has been taught by Flemings. During his naive attempts to immerse himself in French-speaking culture and rid himself of his Flemishisation by trying to become a 'real' Belgian, he stumbles around in the complexities of Belgian identity.  

Not only does this complexity run parallel to geographical and linguistic borders, but there are prejudices and assumptions around the different ways in which language is used even within one group of language speakers. As an English-speaking migrant, Fleming in transit and artist with a Flemish label, he asks himself the question, "what use is the polished French I aspire to, in the contemporary urban context of Belgium like for example in Brussels?"

• Ahilan Ratnamohan is a theatremaker who works with unconventional performers and forms to create interdisciplinary pieces. He draws inspiration from sports, film and language acquisition processes. Over the next few years, he will be artist-in-residence at Kaaitheater. He could recently be seen at Kaaitheater with the performance 'Alle woorden die ik nog niet kende', a series of Klapping sessions, the Globe Aroma production 'Le Maillot – One Size Fits All', and the kick-off of the debate series 'The Wounds Of Multilingualism', together with Sulaiman Addonia and Passa Porta.