Putting Our Minds Together Review

[Part 3] "Ja'" (water in Yucatec Mayan) by Patricia Vázquez Gómez is an immersive listening space filled with the voices of a group of Mayan youth residing in Portland, Oregon. This piece illustrates the idea of "language power," showing how language can create unique knowledge and connections, it is a work that makes the presence of the Yucatec Mayan language and their sounds in this land noticeable and recognizable, often overlooked by many. Themes of opacity and decolonization resonate within this site-specific sound piece, emphasizing the ability to create knowledge not just through another language, but also through alternative forms of expression such as a choir. The darkness and the organic overlay of sounds and words from various directions stir our imagination, allowing us to hear a glimpse of Yucatec Mayan. This idea aligns with our term's discussions on knowledge outside Western paradigms, highlighting the importance of diverse linguistic and cultural perspectives in shaping our understanding of the world. As we observed in this exhibition, not all the pieces can fit into the ideas that we discussed in class, just as not all the pieces fit even into the idea of ​​the Biennial: “ablaze with our care, its ongoing song.” Throughout this term we have discussed and learned how these ideas are a process rather than an end, a process that we must (and have put into practice in this exercise) in practice day by day. At the end of the day as Slushy Points —a concept developed by Bayo Akomolafe in Black Lives Matter, But To Whom?— explains, we are the result of the conditions within us and it is what we do with it that counts/matters. This class is just a starting point and this visit is just one more voice in the sea of ​​possibilities that critical theories offer.