The Jameel Library is hosting a week-long research lab developed and facilitated by Sarasija Subramanian. The lab focuses on unpacking translation as both tool and process, particularly on the fantasy of equivalence in translated material—assumptions based on the fact that nothing is lost (or gained, for that matter) during the process. Participants will engage with the possibilities of translation—more specifically the relationship between translation and accessibility—as a way to watch, listen to, and read material closely. The week consists of collective reading, watching, and listening sessions of resources that address these ideas in an expanded sense, along with prompt-based exercises that help us think through language, the fallacy of equivalence, subjectivity, and the role that the “original” plays in our worlds.

The Week

DAY 1 [August 24, 2026] — Introduction and Alt-Text

DAY 2 [August 25, 2026] — Audio Descriptions and Equivalency

DAY 3 [August 26, 2026] — Language, Translation, and Closed Captions

DAY 4 [August 27, 2026] — To Read / To Watch / To Listen Closely

DAY 5 [August 28, 2026] — Translation, Access, and Sharing

DAY 6 [August 29, 2026] — Clarity vs Subjectivity / A Day of Making

DAY 7 [August 30 2026] — To Make Public

Public Programmes

While the lab’s sessions are offered to participants who responded to the open call, the programme also features a range of public events that welcome everyone to join and learn from: 

Film Screening and Discussion

August 25, 2026

8-10pm

A screening of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) with Audio Descriptions by the participants of The Task of the Translator’s first iteration [held at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Bangalore in 2025] followed by a discussion between Sarasija Subramanian and Sara Hammami. 

Audio Descriptions by Aadhithan Karthik, Aishwarya Vepa, Bianca Tejus, Dakshita Rohatgi, Gauri Nanda, Gauri Pillai, Krithika Reddy, Neha Bhat, Raghav M, Samraj Singh, Sanat Anand, Sanika Shyamsunder Karekar, Shalmala Shastri, Sharanya Murali Kumar, Sirali Gaur, Tanisha Pannu, Trunaya, Vedhashre Krishnamachari, and Vedhshree Mohite.

RSVP here.

Screening and Presentation

August 26, 2026

8-10pm

A screening of Day, 2023 by Park McArthur followed by a presentation by the artist unpacking ideas of access and sharing in contemporary art practices. 

RSVP here.

To Read / To Watch / To Listen Closely

August 27, 2026

4:30-6:30pm

An introduction and collective reading session led by Sarasija Subramanian with publications from the Jameel Library, thinking through language and translation.

RSVP here.

To Make Public

August 30, 2026

7-10pm

Open House with the participants of The Task of the Translator. 

No RSVP needed.

About the Facilitator and Guest Lecturers

Sarasija Subramanian is an artist and editor based in Bangalore, India. Her preoccupations often stem from the desire to revisit critical moments of the past, bringing them back into the public eye to examine in our current contexts. Guided by an underlying editorial propensity, she often engages with documents and modes of thinking/organising that are indexical in nature; lists, instructions, systems of obedience and disobedience, rules, and actionable mandates (however outlandish), through gradual additions and subtractions, presenting finally an excerpted—or translated—form of the original. 

She is also the editor of Reliable Copy, a publishing house and curatorial practice for works, projects, and writing by artists. Reliable Copy, founded in 2018, publishes books and documents, curates exhibitions and screenings, undertakes research projects, and hosts a wide variety of public programming. 

Sara H. Hammami is a librarian, book artist, and poet fragmented between language(s), always thinking and dreaming of life underwater. She develops curatorial and educational research projects and programs. At the moment, she has poems published in DEAR Poetry Journal, Grist, and ANMLY Press. Currently, her personal projects explore the translational qualities of cities and borders, alternative forms of timekeeping, and the translucent qualities of the sea.  

Park McArthur recently published a book as part of her solo exhibition Contact M at Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany, and mumok, Vienna (2025). Her work is in the public collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; and Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. With Jennifer Burris, McArthur is a contributor on the work of American artist Beverly Buchanan to the 61st Venice Biennale catalogue. This July, McArthur opened a two-person exhibition with Jason Hirata at INCURVA, Trapani, Italy.

Lina Jamjoom is a multidisciplinary designer and illustrator specializing in educational experiences, children’s content, and cultural storytelling. She is the founder of Jeddah Explorers, where she transforms the city’s heritage into engaging experiences that inspire curiosity and exploration.