langue absente, langue lacune

Animation for Language In Between, 2024
Solo exhibition at Galerie Heimat, St-Rémy-de-Provence, France
9 June - 20 July 2024
Langue absente, langue lacune
2024. Handpainted animation


[English transcript]

I found myself at a French school in Beirut.
I was used to speaking three languages at a very young age,
so I was around two, three years old.
It was French that dominated my two languages.
I had to switch from one language to another…
Naturally and quite quickly.
We created a bastard language,
Two words in French, one in Arabic or English,
Whatever word came to mind first.
So it often happens that people ask me, “what language do you think in?”
And well, I don't have an answer...
I don't really think about it.
I was sent to an English school,
Where very quickly I stopped thinking in French and simultaneously translating
what I wanted to say into English.
It was a big shock, as my command of French began to fade.
It happens to me with other words.
And of course, as a result,
I have a more auditory memory.
The French poems we had to recite in front of the class…
It's something that comes naturally to me
I can't get them out of my head.
Because language is living.


“...[The animation] explores the repetitions and oddities of spoken language, through looped images and sounds. The central element that guides her practice is our relationship with language. Rosenheim explores with finesse the nuances of multilingualism and assimilation through our speech practices.”

Alexandra Chiari, Galerie Heimat