Unlearning with Translation: A Critical and Collective Practice

by Virginie Bobin, Andrea Ancira (Primary Contributor)

The act of translation as a pedagogical tool, a political act, and ultimately a gesture of care in these tense cultural times.

Based on practical experiments, Unlearning with Translation posits the act of translation as a pedagogical tool, a political act, and ultimately a gesture of care in these tense cultural times. Written by French curator, writer, editor, and self-taught translatress Virginie Bobin, the essay revisits a series of workshops, exhibitions, and other collective activities that took translation as both subject and method to unsettle entrenched conceptions of language, identity, and belonging. In particular, the ambiguous notion of “untranslatability” is used as a lens through which to examine the power relations at play in those institutional, economic, and political contexts inhabited by art workers. Alongside collaborations with artists including Mercedes Azpilicueta, Serena Lee, and Mounira Al Solh, Bobin’s reflections are grounded in her experience co-founding and facilitating the editorial and curatorial platform Qalqalah قلقلة, which relies on translation as a tool for the production and publication of situated knowledge in three languages—French, Arabic, and English. Informed by feminist genealogies and methodologies throughout, the book maintains that collective labor and relations are key aspects of any critical practice, as exemplified in the concluding correspondence with Andrea Ancira.

Series Overview: Scratching the Surface presents writing from scholars, historians, theorists, and curators concerned with educational strategies following the legacies of feminism, civil rights struggles, and decolonisation.

152 pages, Paperback

Published March 31, 2026

Reviews

[Marijonas Verbel · Rating 5 out of 5]

For someone who has read very little critical texts on the topics of language and translation this book was very insightful and inspiring. Glad to have stumbled upon this publication, I can feel that I'll be coming back to read bits of it again and again.

[Bogdana Skorik · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating writing! I honestly thought i’m going to read a bit more of artistic or mediation practices descriptions, but instead I got a solid research on politics and philosophy. As for me, sometimes i felt a lack of references or examples to understand the topic better - if i didn’t know some of the mentioned authors/projects etc before reading i’d spend a couple of hours just googling info. anyways, i really loved it and i am even more satisfied than expected:)

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent primer on how to write—incisively—about translating and translation in 2026. I only wish it were longer and some of the ideas more throughly developed.