Talk is silver, silence is golden.  – Even keeping silent is a form of language.

“A different language is a different vision of life “

– Federico Fellini

Towards the end of the 18th century all things oriental were in fashion.  The then reigning Elector Palatine consequently wanted a part of his palace ground to look oriental and first had a Turkish garden laid out and then a mosque built, known as the Red Mosque.  Now this mosque was never meant as a place of worship but rather as a glorification of a world spirit (as seen from a European point-of-view, a eurocentric vision, culture appropriation  as we understand it now and consequently “bad” but very advanced and unprejudiced at the time).

While the mosque itself is a statement in a very specific language, walls inside and outside were decorated with Arabic phrases and their translations.  How correct the Arabic writing is, I don’t know.  If they came from genuine Arabic sources, I don’t know.  There are so many facets of language and understanding and vision in this alone, the language itself, the sources, the presentation…

And to add another vision: I am now working as a GSL teacher, German as second language, which in German is known as DAZ (Deutsch als Zweitsprache).

Linked to Travel with Intent. For more photos inspired by the Fellini quote, click here.