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The pronunciation of the word ‘Euro’ is an interesting phenomenon. In the Netherlands, we join the ‘e’ and the ‘u’ together, into an ‘ë’ sound. In England, people stick a ‘y’ in front of the ‘u’, and in Italy, the ‘e’ is an ‘a’ (in English), clearly set before the ‘u’, which is pronounced ‘oo’, in ‘é-oo-ro’, with the ‘r’, of course, well rolled. Germans give the ‘eu’ yet another twist, so it becomes a kind of ‘oi’. Strange pronunciations of the word Euro, the physical product of an envisioned unification, are a source of confusion and hilarity.In Ode to Joy (2005), by Katarina Zdjelar (born in Belgrade in 1979, now living in Rotterdam), we hear how a Dutch boy reads out the lyrics of Ludwig van Beethoven’s An die Freude. Because he recites the text as though it were Dutch instead of German, the result is sometimes an unrecognisable mix of the two languages. Having him read the text in a foreign language makes it more about the voice and the performance of the speaker than the content or meaning of the text. Katarina Zdjelar is interested in how the spoken word and language are formed. Before she moved to Rotterdam, Zdjelar’s Belgrade performances were presentations of ‘text works’ in Serbian. It was not simply about the contents of the texts, but the physical making of language through the pronunciation, or the vocalization of words, as she describes it. In Round Trip: Exercises de Style (2005), created for the Radio Days exhibition in De Appel, Zdjelar made use of the sculptural, visual qualities of the voice. In this work, voice makes space tangible, through volume, sound colour and sharpness. Language is a medium for conveying messages. A series of short films made over the last year, while Zdjelar was studying Dutch at a language institute, focuses on the creative process involved in looking for the right word, in finding an equivalent for a foreign word. There is always the question of trying to find a union between language as code and its physical pronunciation. Zdjelar seems to be especially fascinated by this field of tension, or as Steve Rushton puts it, this ‘negotiation’: ‘how language (…) represents a series of negotiations between the code of language and the physicality of speech.’1In her short film, There Is No Is (2006), we see how an Asian girl tries to pronounce Katarina’s last name. It seems impossible for her to get the sound up from her throat and position her lips in order to form the letters. Does this mean that our bodies are also culturally formed? In another work, Would that be Alright with You? (2006), we see and hear a foreigner pronouncing sentences written in Dutch. We can hear in his voice and see from the desperate gestures he makes with his hands that he is having a hard time of it. As a result, his body has become more a resonance box for sound amplification than anything else. In a second projection, we see his written translations in English, his native tongue, of the text he had been reciting, complete with messy corrections. Zdjelar sees herself as a ‘cultural producer’, open for collaboration and exchange with others. She feels herself to be a part of a network of various disciplines, such as music, film, poetry and fine art. In Belgrade, many of her text works and performances were in association with the ‘TKH’ group, an organization of young artists and theorists. For Katarina Zdjelar, language means communication, ‘negotiation’ between people. Workin’ Progress: Open Call for a Closed Meeting is a project begun in 2005, in which Zdjelar discusses Judith Butler’s Universality in Culture with fellow participants from different environments and countries. At the same time, the discussion is about translation and exchange of knowledge. Their subject is not language, but the tools that Katarina Zdjelar employs in her work and with which she indirectly refers to the constantly changing character of language and the society we live in today. Zdjelar’s work is a spatial and visual interpretation of our struggle with language and identity – in all its aspects.In October, Katarina Zdjelar will be participating in the Piet Zwart Institute’s final exam project exhibition, held at TENT., Rotterdam.Katarina Zdjelar’s work can also be seen in Paranoia, at the Leeds City Arts Gallery, Leeds, UK, from 29 June through 27 August, then travelling to the Focal Point Gallery, Southend, and the Freud Museum in London.Note1. Steve Rushton, ‘Some Notes on Katarina’s Zdjelar’s exhibition, Would that be Alright with You if I Bring my Cat along’, Hedah, Maastricht, 2006