Antwerp City Collection

In this early video work, Ignace Cami portrays — with a painted arm and hand — a speaking jay. The bird keeps repeating: “De taal is gans het volk!” (“Language is the entire people!”). Although there is no consensus on the origin of the slogan, it has played an important role in the effort to ‘restore’ the Dutch language in Flanders since 1830. Although one can hardly overestimate the role of language within a culture, according to Cami it is important that both are constantly evolving in order to remain relevant.
Until a few years ago, in Flanders one talked about the Vlaamse gaai (Flemish Jay), although the animal is found across much of the world, as its English name, Eurasian Jay, indicates. The jay’s ‘Flemish’ aspect is said to have originated in the Netherlands, where it was long thought that ‘invasive’ jays came from Flanders. According to another explanation, it is based on a linguistic misunderstanding: the Old French geai flamant (flaming jay), indicating the variegated bird, being misinterpreted as geai flamand (Flemish Jay). Today, the bird is simply referred to as gaai, however isn’t this specimen — that knows the language, and apparently also the history — allowed to identify itself as a Flemish Jay?