On The National Language Photography Exhibit Speaks to the Heart
Curled up in the center of a plain with reaching stalks, there is a woman with a rainbow flair. She wears a black traditional Indigenous skirt speckled with white and banded with pinks and greens. There are long strands of colorful braided cloth wrapped around her waist, gracefully spread in the grass behind her. Eyes contemplatively closed, hand caressing her hair gently, and arms and legs protectively held to her chest, her character embodies pure individuality, acceptance, and patience.There is a word in Sauk that describes this photograph by B.A. Van Sise: “opyêninetêhi.” In English, “my heart is taking its time.”In Van Sise’s photography exhibit On the National Language: The Poetry of America’s Endangered Tongues at the Skirball Cultural Center, Native American culture is on full display. One word from various rare Indigenous languages—Tongva, Nahuatl, Plains Sign Language, and more—is interpreted by Van Sise in a photograph. Some words are also accompanied by a poem, titled with the English translation of the word. The beauty of the words lies in the fact that their emotional and poetic connotation only exists in the language in which they were born; through translation, their meanings are lost.My experience at Van Sise’s exhibit is one I hold close to my heart. Van Sise tells the story of each language in a unique and captivating way, transferring emotion between languages. I also admired his creativity with the photography medium, such as printing one photograph on a tree bark and ripping parts of other photographs to reveal another photograph layered underneath.Of Van Sise’s 46 works, there were several photographs that particularly resonated with me:
1. Plains Sign Language