A group of Dutch youngsters investigated the word ’allochthonous’ in video’s uploaded in this vlog.

De Taalpolitie (The Language Police) is a project by Constant member Peter Westenberg developed for the exhibition Satellite of Love. The format is a vlog (video weblog) about the word ’allochthonous’ (used in Dutch to mean ’non-Dutch’).

In this weblog, videos are collected and annotated – provided with commentary, background information and context. Two classes from the Grafisch Lyceum in Rotterdam, led by teacher Peter Kunnen, form the Language Police crew.
For two months (the duration of the exhibition), these Rotterdam kids investigated whether the word allochthonous could still be used and if not, what word should we use instead? What do you call others? And what or who is ’an other’?
The videomakers scrutinize their own positions and the (im)possibility of shaping their own identities; the development of own choices and opinions will be followed during the project. The vlog compiles street interviews (in corporation with Cineac – Rotterdam), workshops and exercises, sketches, background information and links. Prior to the exhibition, the students took part in a workshop with the Onafhankelijk Toneel theatre group, with actor Jamal Boukhriss as the central figure. A workshop about performing identity, alter ego’s and adopting a different personality.

Peter Westenberg, Peter Kunnen, Jamal Boukhriss, Cineac, Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam, Onafhankelijk Toneel, Witte de With, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Filmhuis Lantaren Venster