IK ZIE JE

Who is not yet being seen?

Many people develop strategies to hide their impairment. They ask someone else to read something aloud, avoid forms, or make up excuses when they do not understand texts. As a result, we often fail to see the problem.

Installation

IK ZIE JE makes this invisible world tangible. Visitors move through a series of spaces where, step by step, they experience what it feels like to lose one’s grasp on language—not by reading information, but by personally experiencing uncertainty, confusion, shame, and, ultimately, recognition.

The installation begins with voices whispering things that usually remain hidden: “I’ll just say I forgot my glasses.” “I’ll make a quick call; that’s faster.” “No one knows this about me.” Visitors are gradually drawn into a world where information becomes incomprehensible, aids are needed to make sense of things, and everyday situations prove more complex than they appear. At the end, visitors meet someone with lived experience who demonstrates that low literacy is not about intelligence, but about opportunities, support, and being seen.

The installation concludes with a mirror and a question: Who do you see? And perhaps even more importantly: Who is not yet being seen?