Dead Languages Conservatory

droppedimage1pablo-helguera
2004- ongoing

Of the more than 6,500 languages currently being spoken, in the world, fewer than half are likely to survive the next century. Conservatorio de Lenguas Muertas (Dead Languages Conservatory) is a project that explores the quick disappearance of dying languages, which function as symbols of the memory of different languages. The project creates a symbolic museum of phonograph recordings of songs and texts of languages in extinction. Wax cylinder recording, invented by Thomas Edison in the 1870s as the first method of recording is in itself an almost extinct way of recording.
Exhibited at the San Juan Poli-Graphic Triennial (2004), Julia Friedman Gallery, New York (2005), The Only Book, Center for Book Arts (2006), Cart(ajena), Cartagena, Colombia (2007),  and Die Lucky Bush at the MuHKA, Antwerp (2008) amongst many others.

Installation view at Die Lucky Bush at the MuHKA, Antwerp (2008):

Installation view at Committed Explanations in Geography at the Cooper Union, New York (2009):

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