"Errorists" Stick Tongue out at Kurdish Letter Ban

The online project "qwx-show ur lingua" has been devised by an art group calling itself "errorists".

They encourage visitors to the website to react to the ban of the use of the Kurdish letters q, w and x by taking a picture of themselves with their tongues stuck out and posting it in the gallery of the site.

On their website, qwx2009.org, the organisers of the campaign say:

"Sticking out your tongue deforms the submissive and pleasing expression power and authority expects to see. The face that sticks out its tongue disrespects power and authority by breaking codes of communication that are accepted socially. It provides the demonised other with the means to adopt an image attributed to him/herself and to re-signify it in a way that makes visible its internal other."

Sticking out your tongue, a universal symbol of disobedience, here also stands for "language", and the project thus supports the demand of minorities for education in their mother tongue.

The website content has been translated into Turkish, Kırmanci Kurdish, English, French, Basque (Euskara), Castillian French, Laz (Lazuri) and Zazaki (Dimilki).

Over 280 people have taken part in the campaign so far. (BÇ/AG)