Following the Sun. Sejal Parekh
What Did you Say is a sociological and sonic inquiry into the distortion of meaning and fact caused by deliberate or non-deliberate miscommunication or misunderstanding. Activated by the Indian-British artist Sejal Parekh, the performance—which functions more as a reckoning—confronts imperial mistranslations, the deliberate deafness of power and the symbolic violence of asking someone to repeat themselves in a language not their own.
The dynamic dialogues with several non-verbal communication phenomena, such as: the Sufi zikr, where breath carries meaning beyond the rational; Vedic chant, whose potency lies in vibrational memory; or Ashanti drum language, where rhythm speaks what cannot be said. Furthermore, the piece proposes a participative action, a take on a children’s game previously referred to in the United Kingdom as Chinese Whispers. The Sinophobic origins of the game’s title dialogues with other cultural bullyings and otherings, such as the Greek barbarian, with an onomatopoeic etymology mocking the sounds of those who did not speak Greek.
Tàpies’ Mitjó [Sock] will be activated as a listening device or witness through sounds of whispers and semiotics, which the audience should attempt to decipher by navigating the space around the sculpture. In the words of the artist: “What happens when whispers are given form, volume and permanence?” The corporeal gesture of collectively leaning in, attempting to understand, actively listening and accepting the sacred discomfort of not understanding, are the core elements of this spatial choreography.
Sejal Parekh is a cross-disciplinary artist. Through site-specific installations, video and sound work, she excavates the intricate topologies of hiraeth, a Welsh diasporic condition that transcends mere nostalgia, articulating instead a radical reimagining of spatial and cultural inhabitation.
Emerging from an intricate understanding of parallel world systems, where cultural dynamics are not merely observed but performatively dismantled, Parekh’s aesthetic strategy constitutes a fundamental archaeology of gesture. She recuperates and transforms objects, motifs and performative actions that were historically deployed to marginalise and stratify, transmuting them into nuanced instruments of critical refusal.
Sejal has an MA in Sculpture from Royal College Art, London. Her work has been shown at MACBA, Somerset House, Hope93, Ovada Gallery, SWAB Art Fair, Art Meets Apolo with Galería Senda and Stone Space Gallery. She has upcoming exhibitions at Barbati Gallery Venice, VHC Gallery India and the Souvenir for Loop Video Art Festival 2025.
A session within the framework of the 2nd edition of the “Following the Sun 2025” cycle, curated by Gabriel Virgilio Luciani.
