United Notions / Collaborative exhibition

United Notions
Collaborative exhibition / Moscow
Curated by the Bakery
Photography : United Notions

You are kindly asked to come up with a theme for a poster that relates to a phenomena unique to the country you live in. It might be a common fact, a figure of speech, tradition, etc. The main consideration is that it’s intrinsic to your culture and can’t be found in other countries. For example the eskimo language has different words to express snow on the ground, falling snow, drifting snow, etc. In Georgia there’s a term Shemomedjamo that means eating past the point of being full just because the food tastes good. In Russia, Dachniki is a general term to explain a phenomenon when (from the beginning of May till August) lots of people (usually lower class) stuff their cars with goods and go to the country, creating enormous traffic jams and jeopardising the whole city transportation. People spend countless hours to get to their country houses only to go back the next day. Needless to say the return journey takes an insane amount of time too.

- "Metro boulot dodo" Studio My Name is Wendy France

"The expression means the monotony of everyday life. This means a boring life without surprises, that life consists mainly of work. This phrase comes from poem by Pierre Béarn (1902-2004). It became extremely popular in the 50’s-60’s. It refers to daily rhythm of Parisians life. Métro (subway) means the morning commute to go to work. Boulot is a slang word meaning the working day. Dodo is a slang word meaning night’s rest."

Au déboulé garçon pointe ton numéro.
Pour gagner ainsi le salaire.
D'un morne jour utilitaire.
Métro, boulot, bistro, mégots, dodo, zéro
Pierre Béarn
It's time to go to work, Phil
in order to earn your pay
What a dull and full day
car, job, pub, stub, bed, nil
My Name is Wendy

- "Che" Studio Asis Argentina
"Che” has no meaning but lot’s of uses. For example to call someone out, to catch someones attention, or depending on its intonation to express almost every feeling (joy, surprise, anger, disappointment, etc.). I think the closest translation could be “hey”. The use of “che” denotes trust and is used to emphasize. In other Spanish-American countries, especially in Mexico and Central America, the word is used as a synonym for "Argentine" because of the abundant use we make of this interjection.