The Talking Tree
video, 3’
commissioned by Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, 2010

Abdullay Kadal Traore is a musician from Burkina Faso from a family of griots – the repositories of oral tradition.

The video's soundtrack is a recording of Abdullay speaking in Sambla, the language of his ethnic group. He explains how, in his community's tradition, certain linguistic domains are only accessible during specific, established social occasions. Only a griot has the power to unlock these domains, and the right to tell certain stories or sing certain songs increases with age. The words spoken at these events are strictly untranslatable; only Sambla speakers can grasp their meaning.

Although the video's subtitles appear to be a faithful translation of Abdullay's words, they are entirely disconnected from what he is saying. Instead, they narrate a traditional Sambla children's story about a talking tree that kills anyone who utters certain forbidden words.

Exhibited at: Cape Town Art Fair, South Africa (2018); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2013); Prague Biennale 5 (2011); Rotonda di Via Besana, Milano (2010).