During the concert by Nizami Bandhu, in short breaks between the songs, a man in the audience called out to the performers. He spoke their language. He understood their lyrics. They exchanged in what felt like playful banter. I couldn’t understand the conversation, but I was smiling.

This offering by the group from New Delhi connected with a man in Salzburg – maybe living here, maybe traveling through – familiar with India, maybe born there, maybe lived there.

As a foreigner in Salzburg and someone who must visit the visa office periodically, I experience this town as not so embracing of
difference. While I am here to work in the arts, many others come for jobs in construction and service; none of these fields, the arts, construction, or service sectors – requires much use of German, but the visa application is like an exam in the language. The questions are long, the paperwork is arduous. Then, when you go to the office, the man or woman behind the glass will not speak English or any other language. You are in Salzburg, it’s German only.

Each time I am in the visa office in Salzburg I feel like I am in
purgatory – the waiting room is small and usually full. I am there
waiting for an answer about which group I am in: the capital „P“
people of Salzburg who are recognized and official, or the lower case „p“ people who work behind the scenes, without recognition, without belonging.

During the Nizami Bandhu concert, I felt like the People and the
people were sitting side by side.

the performance,rehearsals, movements were probably concieved in a different language.
there was an act of translation.
while i watch i use yet another „encoding“ option.
I wonder how far this can go…how many encodings can we use and what will be the end result..the final language?
is the goal to reach a common language, a common understanding in between,above and under all of these verbs,nouns,,,letters?
what importance and significance does the body have?
what is BODY LANGUAGE???

is it possible to create this exchange of so call languages in a medium such as performance arts when the room is dark?
when very clearly „identity“ is being described and handed out
AUDIENCE,VIEWERS,SPECTATORS…

is it really that movement derives from culture..
or maybe it can go the other way around?
the old question pops up again..
is it about society or biology?
it seems strange to go to so far as to india and china..fly miles and miles, pass clouds and „atmosphere“ in search for culture,,or maybe glory and beauty…?
the „white man“ seeking culture,comes up to my mind..
i must say that i would be as interested in the dance/movement/“statements“ of the indian or turkish people living here in Salzburg..
i ask myself where this need to reach out to the far away, to the exotic, to the unattainable comes from…
i choose not to reread what i wrote.
you will recieve these words on your screen not editted
quite raw.
i question myself if it will still be understood
if a stream of conciousness is as well a means of communication
when, where and how does the notion of explaining,translating,wanting to be understood, conveying a certain, specific and „contained“ idea/message come in …
in writing as well as in performance?
…..can you read inbetween the lines?????