How to speak in disguise?

What happens when we can’t convey what we need to say?

Every culture has its own way of hiding truths: euphemisms, metaphors, rituals, humor. From political restrictions to family taboos, language becomes a site of negotiation. How to speak in disguise? is a language-based workshop that explores expression under constraint, how people encode, disguise, and reshape meaning, treating “encryption” as both a linguistic invention and an emotional coping mechanism. It focuses on how language itself evolves through play, encryption, translation, and silence.

We will:

• Unpack how coded language emerges, using examples from Chinese and English social media (e.g. algorithms, such as Homophony Substitution, Obfuscation, Hybridization)
• Explore the hidden languages in global to discuss what is taboo, silenced, or repressed
• Play with encoding languages through interactive word games and collective exercises
• Inventing new symbolic systems, alternative grammars, or hybrid forms that reflect your culture, emotions, and personal experiences.

Here to explore ambiguity and misinterpretation as creative tools, to experiment forms of expression as resilience.  If you want a shared space to explore meaning beyond direct speech, join the discussion! 

Warning: this session involves sensitive topic & “inappropriate language”. 

No prior experience needed, no knowledge of Chinese required. Limited spaces available.

Any question or further discussion please contact [email protected]