Following the Sun. Sejal Parekh

What Did You Say

What Did you Say is a sociological and sonic inquiry into the distortion of meaning and fact due to deliberate or non-deliberate miscommunication or misunderstanding. Activated by the Indian-British artist, Sejal Parekh, the performance —that functions more as a reckoning— confronts imperial mistranslations, the deliberate deafness of power and the symbolic violence in asking someone to repeat themselves in a language not their own.

The dynamic dialogues with several non-verbal communication phenomenons such as the Sufi zikr, where breath carries meaning beyond the rational; the Vedic chant, whose potency lies in vibrational memory; the Ashanti drum language, where rhythm speaks what cannot be said. Furthermore, the piece proposes a participative action; a take on a children’s game previously referred to in the United Kingdom as “Chinese Whispers”. The sinophobic origins of the title of the game dialogue with other cultural bullyings and otherings such as the Greek “barbarian”, with an onomatopeic etymology mocking the sounds of those that didn’t speak greek.

Tàpies’ Mitjó will be activated as a listening device or a witness through sounds of whispers and semiotics that the audience will have to attempt to decipher by navigating the space around the sculpture. In the words of the artist, “what happens when whispers are given form, volume and permanence”? The corporeal gesture of collectively leaning in, attempting to understand, actively listening and accepting the sacred discomfort of not understanding are the core elements of this spatial choreography.

Sejal Parekh is a cross-disciplinary artist, through site-specific installations, video, and sound work, she excavates the intricate topologies of hiraeth, a Welsh diasporic condition that transcends mere nostalgia, instead articulating a radical reimagining of spatial and cultural inhabitation.

Emerging from an intricate understanding of parallel world systems, where cultural dynamics are not merely observed but performatively dismantled. Parekh’s aesthetic strategy constitutes a fundamental archaeology of gesture: she recuperates and transforms objects, motifs, and performative actions historically deployed to marginalise and stratify, transmuting them into nuanced instruments of critical refusal.

Sejal holds an MA in Sculpture at Royal College Art, London. Her work has been shown at the MACBA, Somerset House, Hope93, Ovada Gallery, SWAB Art Fair, Art Meets Apolo with Galería Senda and Stone Space Gallery. She has upcoming exhibitions at Barbati Gallery Venice, VHC Gallery India and Souvenir for Loop Video Art Festival 2025.

A session within the framework of the 2nd edition of the “Following the Sun 2025” cycle, curated by Gabriel Virgilio Luciani.