This week, on 25 November, Wolfson College, founded by Sir Isaiah Berlin and known as “progressive” among all other Oxford University colleges, welcomes the installation ‘Until the Word is Gone’ by artist Sergey Katran. The project is an in-depth exploration of the nature of human language and origins of human civilisation.
“Sergey Katran: Until the World is Gone”. Exhibition poster
The experimental meditative installation, which will remain in the college gardens for almost a year, features twenty six terracotta sculptures embodying sound waves of the word ‘art,’ uttered in dead, endangered and living languages. In this manner, the installation refers to the emergence of ‘art’ as both practice and concept that signified the arrival of a certain new stage in the development of human civilisation.
Furthermore, the project studies the correlation between meaning and visual representation (phonetic sound waves acquire sculptural form). It also encourages the viewers to learn more about numerous indigenous languages, which, like various rare animals and plants, keep on disappearing from the face of Earth on a daily basis. Importantly, the exhibition reminds of the fragility of human civilisation and vulnerability of cultural heritage, subject to destruction through war conflicts and climate change.
Visit: Mon – Sun from 10:00 to 18:00 Before visiting, please, contact Luisa Summers to confirm the date and time of your visit:
