Translation Agency

It’s quite likely, almost a sure bet, that “translation agency” is the dullest term you’ve ever come across. Is this the end of poetry, buried and gone for good? You examine the term from every angle, letter by letter, quietly and then out loud. But no matter how you look at it, “translation agency” stubbornly remains the epitome of boredom. You read the term again and then once more, continuing until the sequence of sounds utterly loses its meaning. You think, after all, there exists a funeral agency imbued with the eternal scent of lilies. And there’s the advertising agency, where stylish folks weave words with flair. A travel agency hints at adventure, and a detective agency teases the possibility of mystery. But a translation agency? No. Nothing.

But in spring 2024, the Institute of Meetings and Non-Meetings is opening a TRANSLATION AGENCY at the International Literature Festival Prima Vista.

Just as you’d expect from its name, it’s a place where translations happen.

But what are they translating?

The 2024 Prima Vista festival will explore and decode futures both bright and dim. At the Grand Futurological Congress, ten writers whose works pivot around visions of possible futures will shuffle tomorrow’s deck of wild cards. Yet, beyond their thoughts, doubts, desires, and fears, each brings something else to Tartu.

A sentence.

A sentence that offers comfort.

A sentence that points the way.

A sentence to take with you into tomorrow.

This sentence can consist of one or a hundred words, spread over half a page or take up an entire sheet. It may contain as many commas, semicolons, and dashes as it likes, but only one full stop. There are no restrictions.

And it is these sentences that the Translation Agency will translate.

Translate into possible futures, into languages and states of being, into clouds and dances, into spells and winds, into cigarette butts and coffee cups, into distances and heights, into depths and understandings. Translate, because we’re all in the dark about what lies ahead. Translate, because you might not be able to bring a toothbrush or clean socks with you into the future.

Translate until this sentence becomes a part of us. A piece that we carry within. A part of our present.

Translation Agency is a part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 main programme.