Dictionary Of Missing Words
Age
/eɪdʒ/
COMING SOON
Queer
/kwɪə/
Noun, Adjective, Verb
“Queer' not as being about who you're having sex with (that can be a dimension of it); but 'queer' as being about the self that is at odds with everything around it and that has to invent and create and find a place to speak and to thrive and to live.”
Bell Hooks on her definition as a 'queer past gay ' in the talk, Bell Hooks - Are You Still a Slave? Liberating the Black Female Body, 2014
Verb
To think and reflect about the heteronormative, patriarchal, racist structures that are embedded in systems and societies, to queer something is to use methods/processes that aren't binary or hierarchical, to encourage and grow the bent, curious, open, messy, celebratory, odd ways of working
“Queer for me is comfier than a singular identity like Lesbian or dyke. Queer encompasses not only who I am, who I love, but also my political approach to stand up, community organise and actively fight for Queers, especially trans liberation. It also sums up my neurodivergence, I'm quite odd and don't always feel I fit in.
The term includes all my queer family, who identify as queer but have different gender and sexual identities to me. I like 'Queer' because it's a gathering of people in, rather than an exclusive term.
Being Queer for me, leaves space and celebrates messiness, and is very DIY - You might be late to the party, but you'll have some gaffa tape with you to get stuck in and help out. You might use the gaffa tape to fix wires, hide nipples, fix a wig, or make a dress!”
Quote by Chloe Meinek
Crip
/krɪp/
Noun
A term reclaimed in disability scholarship and disability justice movements. It "denotes the urge to shake things up, to jolt people out of their everyday understandings of bodies and minds, normalcy and deviance." A. Kafer author of Queer, Feminist, Crip. Crip practice centers the lived experience of disabled people including their creativity, resilience, hacks and naughtiness.
Verb
To 'crip' something is to creatively short circuit a situation, process or tool to be more inclusive.
'When I come up against inaccessible processes, I try to remember I can 'crip them' - I can change the parameters, or the way I engage. I can turn it on it's head and unravel it until I find a way to engage with it without hurting myself.'
Definition and quote by Raquel Meseguer-Zafe
Language is complex, changing and incomplete. New words are created every day and words that once struck fear into peoples hearts are reclaimed as a rallying cry to bring courage and power. We want to make a dictionary of the missing words we have been denied.
This project came from the question ‘What does it mean to age queer or to age crip?’ - these experiences are notoriously missing from the public eye. Queer elders go into care homes and find themselves assumed straight, and disability is harder to see as age related health conditions kick in.
We are working with participants who represent these three terms - Age, Queer and Crip - to find new ways to talk about the joys, the hacks and the difficult parts of their lived experience. These might be words that never existed before, or finding the courage to change their relationship with old words.
We will co-design artwork to share the language and experiences of our collaborators and share them with the world. We hope to challenge the way all of our communities are seen, and find ways to create understanding across generations.
This project is part of University of Bristol’s Connecting Through Culture As We Age programme, and is working closely with Bristol Older People’s Forum.
Contact the team at
dictionaryofmissingwords@gmail.com
to find out more or to get involved
Project team
Raquel Meseguer-Zafe
Artist, Co-Researcher
Raquel’s work straddles theatre, dance, installation, performative conversations and photo-documentary. She identifies as dis-abled, and works with rest and horizontality as creative impulses.
In 2016 Raquel founded Unchartered Collective to create theatrical encounters that explore the lived experience of an invisible disability like chronic pain.
Her work is supported by ACE, Unlimited, PMStudio and MAYK.
Chloe Meinek
Designer, Co-Researcher
Chloe Meineck is an artist, co-designer, researcher and queer community builder.
She specialises in actual/ authentic co-design with different groups of people and communities. Through her design studio she has designed mental health tools, products, public services, public art, government systems and organisations all for social good. She specialises in inclusive and accessible design processes. Her work follows themes of care, repair and identity. Chloe co-founded Bristol Butch Bar and co-facilitates Queer Death Cafe.
Graham Johnson
Creative Producer
Graham is a Bristol based producer specialising in wellbeing, access and talent development. Outside of this project currently he isfocusing on my Radical Wellbeing consultancy and Tobacco Factory Theatre's BLUEPRINT Producer Training Programme.
Hugie
Co-Researcher
Bio coming soon
Shrouk El-Attar
Creative Technologist
Shrouk El-Attar is an engineer, belly dancer and refugee who has been listed
BBC 100 most influential women in the world in 2018, United Nations refugee agency Young Woman of the year 2018, and IET Top 6 young women engineers in the UK in 2019 and in 2020. She has over eight years experience in public speaking.
Bristol Older People’s Forum
Co-Design Partner
Bristol Older People’s Forum (BOPF) represents older people across the city. Formed in 1993 it has nearly 3,000 members aged fifty-five and above.
Their main mission is:
‘For every older person in the city to be an equal, valued and participating member of the community, able to influence policy and decision-making, challenge ageism and promote Bristol as an Age Friendly City.’
Words we’ve found
neuro-convergence
/ˈnjʊərə(ʊ)kənˈvəːdʒ(ə)ns/
Noun
The tendency for neurodivergent people (diagnosed or otherwise) to instinctively form social bonds with other neurodivergent people. This process is not deliberate - instead these bonds develop unconsciously through the ease of communicating with similar minds.
‘It seemed like every week a friend was telling me about how they’d discovered their autism or ADHD. None of them knew when we became close - it was just neuro-convergence.’
Word, definition and quote by Graham Johnson