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Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles

Beyond inclusive writing

"We also cultivate this field, bring tools, seeds of knowledge (…) and then just like pollination, the seeds disperse and perhaps germinate elsewhere…"
Laurence Rassel

Sometimes we just have to accept that what we take for granted can be questioned. This season, a new chapter opens for the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles. With the arrival of Pierre Thys at the helm, a new project is being put in place. In order to best reflect this, we have embarked on the redefinition of the graphic identity of the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles. And, very quickly, inclusive writing appeared as one of the essential axes of this redefinition.

We looked into the matter, convinced that we could find ready-to-use solutions in just a few clicks. To find ourselves after multiple online searches with even more questions and only one certainty: there is no answer. At least no single and simple answer to implement. And what could be more logical, after all, when grappling for a way to inclusively representative singularities than to find no unambiguous rule, but a multitude of tracks, of possibilities.

So, what to do when an unknown territory opens up to us, a territory of which even the name escapes us – inclusive, non-binary, post-binary writing? Simply advance there by accepting to lose your bearings, but do not go there alone. This is why we first took the time to meet and discuss. With linguists, typographers, authors, activists, not so that they show us the way, but to help us discover the riches and possibilities of these new horizons. At least the ones they had already glimpsed.

We continued with the collective Bye Bye Binary. Eugénie Bidaut and Camille Circlude have redesigned and enriched the Poppins typeface which now accompanies us on our media. Almost no more midpoint, but many new glyphs, an enriched typography, for an openness to all possibilities, and a redistribution under free license to allow pollination to continue and new imaginaries to be shared.

© Gloria Scorier