“少小离家老大回,乡音无改鬓毛衰.”
(I left my hometown when I was young and came back when I was very old. The dialect of my hometown has not changed, but my hair is white.)
This is a poem by Chinese poet He Zhizhang. However, my hair is not white yet, but I can gradually see the trace of the disappearance of my hometown language- Wu.
Wu language — “the most populous unofficial language in the world. It is strange that it is listed as a critically endangered language by the International Language and Culture Organization (ILCO).” In the project, I explored the unique attributes of Wu language(such as soft but hard; eight-tones; diverse types, etc.) through different visual languages such as tie-dyeing, painting, installation, etc. Hoping to make more people remember this language by showing its beauty and uniqueness.