Bestiario de Lengüitas (Bestiary of Tonguelets) is a project by artist Mercedes Azpilicueta, in dialogue with curator Virginie Bobin. Born in Paris in 2017 during a residency at Villa Vassilieff, it has given rise to three exhibitions at CentroCentro in Madrid, Museion in Bolzano and CAC Brétigny near Paris, as well as a program on *Duuu radio and finally a trilingual publication (K. Verlag, Berlin, 2024). Following the thread of a script written by Mercedes Azpilicueta, the protagonists of Bestiario de Lengüitas try to maintain chaos and excess in a world calling for order, efficiency, and transparency. This evening will provide an opportunity to look back at the genesis of the project and the book, nourished by workshops, collaborations and rehearsals with artists, researchers, designers, dancers and singers, as well as multiple translation processes. Actress Emmanuelle Lafon, who has been with Bestiario since its inception, will perform excerpts from the script.

To mark the occasion, on Tuesday 5 November at 6pm, radio *Duuu will rebroadcast the program “lenguas vivas / langues vivantes/ living tongues”, a conversation recorded on March 6, 2021 with Mercedes Azpilicueta, Virginie Bobin, Hélène Harder, Emmanuelle Lafon, Lucile Sauzet, Pauline Simon and Myriam Suchet. Gathered at the *Duuu studio in the Parc de la Villette, they invite us to imagine forms of engagement and sharing through listening, sound and voice, essential dimensions of the project. Following this program, *Duuu will rebroadcast the series of “small gualichos”, little hearing spells offered by the collaborators of Mercedes Azpilicueta’s “Bestiario de Lenguitas”. Thought scores, voice exercises and sound poems combined, these are moments of care to be listened to or activated in the space-time of your choice.

Mercedes Azpilicueta: Bestiary of Tonguelets / Bestiario de Lengüitas / Bestiaire de petites langues — Processing Process. With essays by Mercedes Azpilicueta, Virginie Bobin, Simone Frangi, Elena Lespes Muñoz, Vanina Scovilano as well as a conversation between Mercedes Azpilicueta and Faye Campbell. English, Spanish, and French, K. Verlag Berlin, 2024.