Anna Lerchbaumer, Huda Takriti, Violet Kim, Marzena Wolowicz, Jet Axel Pouvreau, Cornelia Frischauf, Anne-Clara Stahl, Leo Vallazza, Johann Redl, Chris Izsak

“Good Mocking Bird” is a project that has developed from the artist’s experience where she encountered needs and demands for integration into new societies and their vernaculars. Since the rise of modern nation states, standard language ideology has been an effective tool for the creation of general public and its naming necessary for mass mobilisation. With the still prevalent call of governing body to standardize its official tongue, minority groups are silently asked to pass. Passing, an ability of a person to be regarded as a member of an identity group or category different from their own, is a topic widely discussed today in regards to identity politics. While the current discourse on passing is mostly focused on the visual signifiers of one’s identity, the artist raises questions on the impact of accents, an invisible yet potent cue that affects our perception on one’s status of belonging. With the project, the artist invites the audience to a space of psychological disturbance where the signifier and signified are in a clear and eloquent discordance.

The project is made of two parts: (1) A performance by two birds that each apologize in Vorarlberg German and Standard German for not speaking German (2) A book of Korean Poetry with German title: ein Bericht für eine Akademie