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Draft:Universal Tongue

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Universal Tongue

Universal Tongue is a multifaceted art project by Dutch artist Anouk Kruithof based on found footage of diverse dance styles from across the globe, collected from the Internet.

The project encompasses an 8-channel video installation, a book publication, a website with an online database, and a single-channel video edition. Universal Tongue was presented at over 30 international exhibitions, including solo shows of the artist and belongs to several museum collections.[1]

About the Project

Universal Tongue was created through an extensive research of dance found footage conducted by Anouk Kruithof along with an international team of 52 researchers.[2] For the project’s purposes 8 800 videos were collected from YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, summing up to 250 hours of video material presenting a variety of dance videos from different social and cultural contexts of the globe, showcasing viral phenomena and social media trends. The collected footage has been described by each researcher, who categorised in total over 1000 dance styles from all 196 countries of the world.[3]

Universal Tongue was set as an art project, which highlights an era of fluidity, hybridity and interconnectedness of the modern digital era while honouring and celebrating the diverse historical and cultural backgrounds of the researched dances. In 2018, Kruithof created the centerpiece of Universal Tongue - an 8-channel video installation, presented at Medialab during the Cinekid Festival in Amsterdam commissioned by the curator Ward Janssen[4]. The installation is rhythmically arranged using a unified soundtrack remixed with music samples from the found footage, creating an immersive audiovisual environment for the audience of four hours duration. The videos create an ongoing dance flow of looped moving images, loosening categories of the world order, such as country, continent or culture. The installation displays over 1,000 dance styles, comprising 32 hours of footage in total.[5] In addition to the 8-channel installation, Universal Tongue also exists as a single-channel video edition created in 2022.[6] In 2021, Anouk Kruithof published the book UNIVERSAL TONGUE, with a second edition following in 2022.[7][8] The book documents and describes all the dance styles categorized during the project’s research, accompanied by screenshot images from the found footage videos.[9] The book is playfully described by the author as a “DANCYCLOPEDIA through the Jungle of Internet”, in which dance is presented as a form of an embodied knowledge of cultural identity, self-expression, fun and empowerment.[10][11]

The project's findings are also presented in an online database, accessible at https://www.universaltongue.com/dance-styles-az. This database categorises and provides detailed information on the various dance styles identified, making the research publicly available.

Through its various components, Universal Tongue is a comprehensive and immersive exploration of global dance, reflecting the rich tapestry of human expression and connectivity in the digital age.

Disclaimer

Universal Tongue was created with footage that is published online under the Creative Common License.

Exhibitions and Collections

Universal Tongue been exhibited at over 30 international venues and it is part of the permanent collection of, among others:

  • Museum Folkwang Essen, Germany,
  • Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, The Netherlands
  • Collection Josselin Souris in Tunis, Tunisia and Paris, France.
  • Collection Museum Het Nieuwe Domein, Sittard, The Netherlands (single-channel video)
  • Collection Frac Alsace, Alsace, France (single-channel video)
  • Collection De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), Amsterdam, The Netherlands (single-channel video)
  • Collection BERG contemporary / Ingibjôrg Jonsdottir, Reykjavík, Island (single-channel video)

Solo exhibitions

As part of group exhibitions and festivals

Awards

Universal Tongue was shortlisted for Lumen Prize Moving Image Category, 2018, Golden Lion, Cinekid Festival, 2018, and long-listed for the The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, 2021.

Official website

Official artist's website

Video interview at Museum Tinguely, Switzerland

Universal Tongue publication video

Video documentation Universal Tongue at Mercerie, Brussels

[1]Video documentation Universal Tongue at Vooruit, Brussels


Folkwang and the City - Announcements - e-flux

TOGETHER WE DANCE, DIVIDED WE FALL. On Anouk Kruithof, ARTS OF THE WORKING CLASS

Kummer Stella, Liefde als politieke remedie – ‘Can’t We All Just Get Along?’ bij galerie Stevenson in Amsterdam, Metropolism

Fijen Charlotte, Van folklore tot lap dance – MOVE! Body Politics in Motion bij MU, Metropolism

Burg van der Ben, Opinie | De Tango als tegengif, BNR

‘Universal Tongue’ een van de hoogtepunten bij FotoFestival Naarden, Gooisemerennieuws

Nooit Meer Slapen: Anouk Kruithof (beeldend kunstenaar), vpro

FotoFestival Naarden feestelijk geopend met spektakelstuk ‘Universal Tongue’', Gooisemerennieuws

Leu De Nick, Babystapjes, De Standaard

Somviele De Charlotte, Dans in een digitaal doolhof, De Standaard

AVS bezoekt ‘Universal Tongue’ door Anouk Kruithof, Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER

Metz Tracy, Dans is overal anders, en tegelijk een universele taal, NRC

Soundtrack for Anouk Kruithof: Universal Tongue Video Edition 2022, Karoliina Pärnänen, 2022.

Universal Tongue Soundtrack Hour 1 by Koen Nutters, 2018.

Universal Tongue Soundtrack Hour 2 by Koen Nutters, 2018.

Universal Tongue Soundtrack Hour 3 by Koen Nutters, 2018.

Universal Tongue Soundtrack Hour 4 by Koen Nutters, 2018.

  1. ^ see "Exhibitions and Collections" sections of the article
  2. ^ "Researchers". Universal Tongue. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  3. ^ "Anouk Kruithof - Universal Tongue". Voorlinden. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  4. ^ "wardjanssen". wardjanssen.com. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  5. ^ "Anouk Kruithof - Universal Tongue". Voorlinden. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  6. ^ "Exhibitions". Universal Tongue. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  7. ^ "UNIVERSAL TONGUE (second edition) – Anouk Kruithof". Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  8. ^ Kruithof, Anouk (05.07.2024). Universal Tongue (first ed.). Ghent, Belgium: Art Paper Editions in Ghent Belgium (published May 2021). ISBN 9789493146686. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  9. ^ The dance styles were described by the project’s researchers and Internet fact-checked with the support of a cultural anthropologist Ula Kahul.
  10. ^ "Anouk Kruithof / Universal Tongue". artpapereditions.org. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  11. ^ "Arts of the Working Class, issue 18 September 2021" (PDF).
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