Singing sculpture reimagines Ancient Greek myth to spotlight world languages

A polyphonic reimagining of an Ancient Greek myth explores the ability of languages to endure in the face of political oppression.

The story of Daphne and Apollo — about a nymph who transforms into a laurel tree to escape the god’s advances, effectively silencing herself for eternity — inspired the very first opera, Dafne, in 1598.

Now showing at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Nour Mobarak’s Dafne Phono translates the opera’s libretto into some of the world’s most phonetically complex languages, including Abkhaz (spoken in the Caucasus), Chatino (from Oaxaca), and Silbo Gomero (from the Canary Islands).

A chorus of singing sculptures recounts the tragic tale, aiming to evoke “how all realities are individuated yet deeply interconnected,” Mobarak told ARTnews.