All the words I did not yet know
Ahilan Ratnamohan is a language enthusiast and usually busy learning at least two languages at the same time. Although he was constantly surrounded by Dutch, he didn't go near this language for a long time. Between 2010 and 2018 - his first years in Belgium - he collected a list of 840 words unknown to him. Words he came across in books, articles and guides that circulated in the arts sector. This list slumbered in the back of Ahilan's mind for a long time, until one day in 2020, when he felt the urge to tackle Dutch again.
In All the words I did not yet know, Ahilan tries to use all 840 words from his list in a monologue. Several questions around language present themselves during this process; literal questions, but also on a social and political level. Why does he want to improve his Dutch at this precise moment? Can a compliment actually be critique? What does it mean to inherit a word from Thierry Baudet? And to take up a new vocabulary? Will this monologue be at all comprehensible for Ahilan's fellow immigrants?
Upcoming dates
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24 & 25 February 2022
Kaaistudio's, Brussels (BE)
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10 March 2022
TR Schouwburg, Rotterdam (NL)
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Direction, text and performance Ahilan Ratnamohan