What Did You Say
What Did You Say (Qué has dicho) is a sociological and sonic investigation into the distortion of meaning and fact caused by miscommunication or misunderstanding—whether deliberate or not. Activated by Indo-British artist Sejal Parekh, the performance—functioning more as a confrontation than a representation—takes on imperial mistranslations, the deliberate deafness of power, and the symbolic violence of asking someone to repeat themselves in a language other than their own.
The piece establishes dynamic dialogues with various forms of nonverbal communication, such as Sufi zikr, in which breath carries meanings beyond reason; Vedic chanting, whose power lies in vibrational memory; or Ashanti drum language, whose rhythm expresses what cannot be said in words. It also proposes a participatory action based on a version of a children’s game once known in the UK as Chinese Whispers. The sinophobic origins of the game’s name resonate with other forms of cultural mockery and exclusion, such as the Greek word barbaros—an onomatopoeic imitation that ridiculed the sounds of non-Greek languages.
Tàpies’ Mitjó (Sock) will be activated as a listening device or testimony through whispers and semiotic elements that the audience must attempt to decipher while navigating the space around the sculpture. In the words of the artist: “What happens when whispers take on form, volume, and permanence?” The collective gesture of leaning in, trying to understand, listening actively, and accepting the sacred discomfort of not knowing forms the core of this spatial choreography.
Sejal Parekh is an interdisciplinary artist who, through site-specific installations, video, and sound works, excavates the intricate topologies of hiraeth—a Welsh diasporic condition that transcends mere nostalgia to articulate a radical reimagining of spatial and cultural dwelling.
Grounded in a deep understanding of parallel world-systems—where cultural dynamics are not simply observed but dismantled performatively—Parekh’s aesthetic strategy forms a fundamental archaeology of gesture: recovering and transforming objects, motifs, and performative actions historically used to marginalize and stratify, and transmuting them into nuanced instruments of critical refusal.
Sejal holds an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art in London. Her work has been shown at MACBA, Somerset House, Hope93, Ovada Gallery, SWAB Art Fair, Art Meets Apolo with Galeria Senda, and Stone Space Gallery. Upcoming exhibitions include Barbati Gallery in Venice, VHC Gallery in India, and Espai Souvenir as part of Loop Festival 2025.
This session is part of the second edition of the cycle “Following the Sun”, curated by Gabriel Virgilio Luciani.
https://museutapies.org/es/event/siguiendo-el-sol-sejal-parekh/