The collective People Who Stutter Create believes that stuttering has the power to open up space for deep listening and connection. By embracing the possibilities inherent in repetition, prolongation, and pauses, the group reshapes social reality through the acts of description and expression.

The artwork features text in multiple languages layered over a background of rippling, turquoise water. Waves, with their rhythmic and unpredictable nature, serve as a potent symbol long associated with stuttering and speech. The Egyptian hieroglyph for stuttering incorporates a wave-like motif, and as speech therapist Kristel Kubart notes, “stuttering is as natural as whirling waves and calm creeks.” This work embodies the values, ideals, and hopes of stuttering pride. It celebrates stuttering culture and underscores the transformative potential of dysfluency–a term that encompasses stuttering/stammering and other communication differences such as aphasia, Tourette’s, and dysarthria. Here, stuttering makes apparent the fluidity of time and speech.

Originally presented at the 2024 Whitney Biennial on a public billboard, this new iteration incorporates five languages, including Urdu, Arabic, and Chinese–the three most widely spoken languages in Mississauga after English–as well as Anishnaabemowin, honouring the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. All translations were developed in collaboration with individuals who stutter, with the exception of the Anishinaabemowin contribution. 

Image Description

Gaa gegiibanagaskwejig bazangwaabiwin bagidinigewag

ہکلانا صبر سکھاتا ہے

口吃者創造時間

التلعثم يمكن أن يخلق الوقت

Stuttering can create time

Light shines off the surface of the water. The image is derived from a photograph designer Conor Foran took of Lake Ontario. The text is in a sans-serif typeface organized in five evenly spaced lines, each representing a form of stuttered speech: repeated syllables, repeated words, blocks (pauses in speech), and prolonged syllables. The first line, in Anishinaabemowin, translates to “Stutterers allow/offer a moment.” The word bagidinigeweg ("they allow/offer") is preceded by six overlapping b’s, representing a repetition on the letter b. The second line, in Urdu, translates to “Stuttering teaches patience.” The letter at the beginning of the word صبر ("patience") is stretched and repeats 10 times in a row, representing prolonged sound and repetition. The third line, in Chinese, translates to “People who stutter create time.” The character 創 (the first character of a Chinese word that translates to “create”) appears twelve times in a row, representing repetition. There are intentional spaces after the second and seventh appearance of this character, representing blocks in speech. The fourth line, in Arabic, translates to “Stuttering can create time.” There is an intentional space between التلعثم يمكن أن ("stuttering can") and يخلق ("create"), and an even larger space before الوقت ("time"), representing blocks in speech. The fifth line, in English, reads "Stuttering can create time." The “s” in “stuttering” is stretched horizontally to represent prolonged sound. The Anishinaabemowin and English lines are all lowercase and lack punctuation, giving a casual and informal, almost text message-like feel.

Translations: Hussain Alhussainy, Bhavna Bakshi, Jia Bin, Michael Thunderbird

Translation pronunciation support: Jia Bin, Dr. Shafaat Rabbani, Khaled Abu Jayyab, Gloria B. (TripleTrad Canada)