From June 7 to August 10, the Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB) presents its annual exhibition, Sounds of Babel. Centered on the theme of language, the exhibition explores how language—as a medium of communication—can generate diverse forms of imagination and discourse. Bringing together 22 artists and collectives from nine countries across Taiwan, Asia, and Europe, the exhibition uses the symbols, sounds, and meanings embedded in language as a point of departure. Through a range of perspectives, the participating artists investigate the power relations inherent in language and the complex, entangled conditions of identity it reveals.

Following the experimentation with the aesthetic potential of language in Heteroglossia—Lecture Performance Gathering, C-LAB’s 2025 annual exhibition, as the second episode of the Contemporary Art Platform’s annual program in 2025, is designed to uncover the momentum and signifying function hidden behind language. Such momentum covers diverse aspects, and the works in this exhibition span from the construction of national identity, traumatic experiences, narrative reenactment, cultural interpretation, and political propaganda around the end of the Second World War to the ethnic differences and gender identity in contemporary society. The participating artists’ works show us the underlying cultural phenomena and the milieus of their emergence, as well as the imaginations running wild due to the desire for understanding and dialogue.

Mikhail BAKHTIN treated the portmanteau term “heteroglossia” as a basic feature of culture, and the term “polyphony” ergo symbolizes the diversity and pluralism of social/cultural languages. How can heterogeneous voices and narratives be heard/seen? In this world where the splitting of everything is accelerating, we are undergoing a transition period marked by great turmoil of geopolitics, ethnic awareness, and cultural values. This exhibition and the participating artists attempt to amplify these voices, inviting the viewers to immerse themselves along with the artists in the clamor of voices in which the potential for dialogue and common ground is to be recognized.

Artists｜Cinthia MARCELLE, HO Yen-Yen, Chihhung LIU, CHANG En-Man, CHANG Wen-Hsuan, CHEN Fei-Hao, Tsubasa KATO, NGUYEN Trinh Thi, Anri SALA, LEE Kit, Steph HUANG, Cinthia MARCELLE ✕ Tiago Mata MACHADO, CHEN Ting-Jung, South HO Siu-Nam, Candy Bird, AU Sow-Yee, LIN Yi-Chi, TSENG Chien-Ying, siren eun young jung ✕ KIRARA, FAN Yang-Tsung, LU Hao-Yua, Minia BIABIANY

Curator｜CHUANG Wei-Tzu
Production Coordinator | Casper CHEN
Production Executive | HUANG Yi-Hsuan, Judy CHU

Supervisor | Ministry of Culture
Organizer｜Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab
Executive Organizer｜C-LAB Contemporary Art Platform
Special Thanks | AKI Gallery, Each Modern, Red Gold Fine Art, Mind Set Art Center, Future Vision Lab