Invisible Words

Okinawa was once the independent Ryukyu Kingdom. Through colonial policies by the Satsuma Domain, Tokugawa Shogunate, and modern Japan, Ryukyuan culture—especially its language—was heavily suppressed. In schools, students who spoke Ryukyuan were punished with a hōgen fuda (dialect tag), a wooden sign hung around the neck and passed to the next student heard speaking the language—a cycle of silence and shame.

This installation invites you to physically engage with that history and reconnect with Ryukyuan language as a living voice.