The site consists of texts NON-SYMBOLIC CULTURES , quotations of people who are 'differently brained' COMING OUT, a PLATFORM, and information about the Centre for NonSymbolic Cultures. Other material, such as articles, exhibitions and other projects I produced in relation to this topic can be found in DOCUMENTATION. In LINKS you can find references to other sites in which I am interested or with whom I feel affiliated..

The heart of this site is called 'WORDS'. As a random choice of (key)words and names connecting you with the different trajectories of this site, it is not meant to create confusion only. We have made the artistic choice to create at least one page in which the dualistic notions of normative society are being overruled. Who decides what has meaning and what doesn't, which issues are important and which aren't? Clicking on one of these, seemingly unimportant words can bring you in the midst of the framing texts NON-SYMBOLIC CULTURES or into one of the many quotations of people with autism or schizophrenia, which are indexed in COMING OUT.

If you want to continue faster, click on INDEX. This brings you to the basic chapters of this site. When there are difficulties with the frames or with others obstacles that refrain you from reading the texts, please turn to DOCUMENTATION.

COLOPHON

Editor/ initiator
Ine Gevers

Design
Maurits de Bruijn
Daniël van der Velden

WORDS

This site aims to provide a platform where information and experiences relating to diversity and pluralism can be shared and discussed in an attempt to extend the discourse surrounding these areas. People who are 'differently brained' are introduced as separate cultures. They 'share' different perceptions and create different meanings. To refer to people with autism, schizophrenia and/or developmental disabilities in terms of 'nonsymbolic cultures' (in itself a contradiction in terms) is problematic.

It is even questionable whether the term 'nonsymbolic' describes any of the different subgroups sufficiently, not to mention the danger of stereotyping that comes with it. Coining a new term, however, allows me to define it. 'Nonsymbolic' stands for those moments when people do not (cannot) automatically subject themselves to our order -our language, our shared system of symbols. This doesn't mean that what they say or do cannot be qualified as being symbolic, it does implicate however that it is not compatible with the order we share (even if this incompatibility is only temporary as with people suffering from schizophrenia).

The term 'nonsymbolic cultures' is used mainly for tactical reasons. It links up with discourses and practices of other artists, philosophers, theoreticians who tend to look at our world and its people from unprejudiced angles. Perspectives that deliberately distinguish themselves from 'normalising' practices and discourses -for instance, the healthcare system- have inspired me to open this field of discussion.