Pia Lanzinger, Geraldton goes Wajarri (2013-14)
Artist: Pia Lanzinger
Work: Geraldton goes Wajarri (2013-14)
Location: Geraldton, Western Australia
Pia Lanzinger’s project focuses on Wajarri, an Aboriginal language that today has less than 50 fluent speakers, despite it once being the most commonly spoken language in Australia’s mid-western region. Lanzinger’s project, Geraldton goes Wajarri, is concerned with the conservation of this language, and takes Wajarri words into the public spaces of the City of Greater Geraldton. During her residency, Lanzinger invited Jambinu (Geraldton) citizens to adopt a Wajarri word and to use it in day-to-day life, effectively to become mentors for the language. Through her adopt-a-word campaign and a series of playful public events, Lanzinger created a reservoir of knowledge, a living archive of the language in the consciousness of Geraldton residents.
