Dawoon Park

How can we translate what goes beyond words? This bi-weekly seminar explores translation as more than the transfer of language. Inspired by Gayatri Spivak’s idea of translation as an ethical and affective gesture, we ask how sensory experience, emotional nuance, bodily knowledge, and culturally specific meaning might be translated—or perhaps must remain partially untranslatable. We approach translation as a creative, transformative practice—especially when meaning is felt, embodied, or situated. Throughout the semester, we will read and discuss selected texts and artistic examples. Students will present or respond in experimental and reflective ways. Topics include embodied knowledge, performance, material imagination, and the politics of voice and visibility. Students are invited to connect these ideas to their own artistic or design practice, to examples from other artists, or to personal experiences of translation across media, cultures, or contexts. If you have any questions, feel free to write to me at: d.park@hfk-bremen.de (Dawoon Park) Assessment Criteria • Present a selected reading (keynote, performance, sound walk, video essay, etc.) • Submit a short essay (ca. 2-3 pages or equivalent) exploring your personal perspective on translation in relation to your artistic practice, relevant artworks, or everyday experience. --- How can we translate what goes beyond words? This bi-weekly seminar explores translation as more than the transfer of language. Inspired by Gayatri Spivak’s idea of translation as an ethical and affective gesture, we ask how sensory experience, emotional nuance, bodily knowledge, and culturally specific meaning might be translated—or perhaps must remain partially untranslatable. We approach translation as a creative, transformative practice—especially when meaning is felt, embodied, or situated. Throughout the semester, we will read and discuss selected texts and artistic examples. Students will present or respond in experimental and reflective ways. Topics include embodied knowledge, performance, material imagination, and the politics of voice and visibility. Students are invited to connect these ideas to their own artistic or design practice, to examples from other artists, or to personal experiences of translation across media, cultures, or contexts. If you have any questions, feel free to write to me at: d.park@hfk-bremen.de (Dawoon Park) Assessment Criteria • Present a selected reading (keynote, performance, sound walk, video essay, etc.) • Submit a short essay (ca. 2-3 pages or equivalent) exploring your personal perspective on translation in relation to your artistic practice, relevant artworks, or everyday experience.