I discussed with my group and came up with my initial curatorial ideas, followed by my curatorial drafts.

  1. Curatorial Concept

Under the framework of language, we rely on symbols to understand the world. Language is not only a bridge of communication but also a structure of perception. However, is it also a prison for thought? If language disappears, can we find a more fundamental way of understanding?

I began questioning the limitations of language and its impact on perception. I explored de-language practices in contemporary art and how curation can go beyond symbols to explore non-verbal communication.

I propose an exhibition titled “A World Without Words.” It focuses on how contemporary art challenges the power of language and seeks a more emotional mode of expression beyond verbal structures.

  1. Curatorial Theme: The End of Language, The Awakening of Perception

Language has long been seen as the peak of human civilization, a carrier of thought, and a storage of knowledge. We create the world with language and record history with writing. However, is language truly helping us understand the world, or is it limiting our perception?

If everything must be encoded in words, does the world become reduced to a singular logic?

If all communication depends on language, are other modes of perception ignored or forgotten?

This exhibition raises a fundamental question:

If language disappears, can we still think?

 

  1. referenceArtworks

Xu Bing – tianshu

  • Looks like Chinese characters but is unreadable.
  • Challenges the meaning of symbols and writing.

Marina Abramović – The Artist Is Present

  • 700 hours of silent eye contact with visitors.
  • Emotion & presence replace verbal communication.

 

  1. Exhibition Site: The Abandoned Subway Terminal

The exhibition is set in an abandoned underground subway station—a place once full of signs, announcements, and conversations, now left in complete silence. This station has no trains, no destinations; it is a relic of language decay, a witness to the end of information flow.

  • Subway as an information network → It once guided travelers with words.
  • A decaying station as a metaphor → When signs corrode and announcements fade, can the world still be understood?
  • A confined space as a language laboratory → Here, visitors will be stripped of verbal dependency and explore non-verbal communication.

 

  1. Curatorial Approach: Beyond Silence, Towards a New Language

This exhibition is not about silence—it is about going beyond language.

When words, sound, writing, and symbols disappear, how can humans communicate?

  • Can we replace language with body movement, gestures, light, vibrations, and sound frequencies?
  • Can we understand non-human languages—whales, fungi, AI?
  • Can we create a post-language system and enter the ‘Post-Language Era’?

Visitors are not passive observers. They will experience a cognitive transformation—from relying on language, to losing language, to finding new ways to communicate.

 

  1. Exhibition Structure: Entering a World Without Language

The exhibition follows five phases, leading visitors through the collapse, search, and reconstruction of communication, ultimately entering the post-language era.

Phase 1: The Collapse of Language

Silent Concourse

  • Words fade from signs.
  • Announcements turn into distorted noise.

Phase 2: Rebuilding Communication

The Silent Train Car

  • Visitors must communicate without words—only using gestures, eye contact, and touch.

Phase 3: Beyond Human Speech

The Echo Tunnel

  • Visitors experience non-human communication—plants, fungi, whales, microbes.

Phase 4: The Reconstruction of Sound

The Silent Platform

  • No ordinary sound—only low-frequency vibrations, bone conduction, and magnetic resonance.

Phase 5: The Post-Language Future

The Last Station

  • AI generates a ‘new language’ using symbols, colors, and frequencies.

 

  1. Final Reflection: What Happens After Language?

This exhibition is more than an art show; it is a cognitive experiment prompting visitors to rethink:

  • Is language the limit of human thought, or just one stage in evolution?
  • Can AI develop a new system beyond human speech?
  • Will future civilizations abandon words for sensory-based communication?
  • Is art the ultimate universal language?

When you leave the exhibition, will you still believe that language is necessary?

Or will you begin to understand that the end of language is the true awakening of thought?

 

  1. Conclusion: Entering the Post-Language Era

This is not just an exhibition—it is an experiment in human consciousness.

  • You will discover that the world can still be understood beyond words.
  • You will realize that writing is not the only way to store knowledge.
  • You will experience that art is the most fundamental form of communication.

The End of Language, The Awakening of Perception.

Welcome to a World Without Words.

Week 05 Initial curatorial programme / Ruiqi Wang / Curating (2024-2025)[SEM2] by is licensed under a