On Women’s Voices #01: The Tip of the Tongue the Teeth the Lips

From the introduction by Yoohee Cha:

“The Tip of the Tongue the Teeth the Lips’ is a serial publication on Women’s physical, and metaphorical voice – consists of contributions from 16 female contributors – artists, designers, and writers.

The beginning was my personal attachment towards the subject. When I look back on my life, there have been people, usually women, relaying their own stories, memories, and experiences to me. Their accounts formed a special sector of my memory. Their voices dispersed through the air held only in my memory. Sometimes, they were more powerful or comforting than any written words in books. Those stories were altered over time, but whenever I go through something unexpected in my life, I return to them.

Also, as I moved from where I grew up and came to Amsterdam, I needed to use a different language to express myself and communicate with people. This meant that I needed to build a new relationship between language and myself. I got to have a special connection with my mother tongue, which I have never felt before.

I started to research and wrote a thesis on Voice and Gender, Women speaking, and speaking as a tool to form solidarity with minorities. This got me think that this will not be only my own experience, but a universal one. I started to wonder about other people’s stories, and that was the moment where I started this project. I put out Open-call, on the walls, and digitally, hoping that this would reach out to someone who shares the same interests.

Through Open-call, I got a lot of precious contributions. With the broad subject, stories touch upon so many different topics in ways that I have never expected. But at the same time, I realized that they were somehow loosely connected. I felt as if they were having a conversation, making new stories. This is started by me, but this would never be able to happen if it was only me. As a mediator of the link of the precious stories, I feel eternal gratefulness.”