Koulounization

How do you say “colonization” in Arabic? When Salim Djaferi asks this question, he receives an unexpected answer: a hybrid word, a blend of French and Arabic— Koulounisation.

In Algiers, in July 2018, the artist—born in France to Algerian parents—was looking for the section on the Algerian War in a bookstore. The bookseller, without hesitation, directed him to the “Revolution” section. The word struck him. For some, a war; for others, a revolution: the same event, two narratives that language keeps apart. What do these discrepancies reveal about the history we receive, pass on, or keep silent?

Taking this question as his starting point, Salim Djaferi sets out to investigate in a performance that blends elements of both theater and a lecture. Through encounters and anecdotes, he gathers testimonies, imbuing and stripping away the weight of words from a colonial past that continues to shape languages and memories. “Colonization is like a guest who stays too long,” someone once whispered to him.

On stage, the investigation takes shape. The space gradually becomes the concrete setting for the questions it raises—and a stake in itself. With humor that defuses tension without ever diverting attention, *Koulounisation* teaches us to hear what words do—to us, and of us. Then as now.