Submissions | VizChitra 2026
What's your mother tongue(s)?
Apurva
Description
“What is your mother tongue?” is a question I have never been able to answer simply. This project visualises my family tree through language, mapping how English, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, and Kannada circulate across three generations of my maternal and paternal family. Instead of a linear hierarchy, the work unfolds as a dense web, reflecting how identity is formed through overlapping cultural and linguistic exchanges.
At first glance, viewers encounter a complex network of names arranged across generations. As they look closer, a visual system begins to reveal itself: one typeface represents one side of the family, font weights indicate personality traits such as talkative or reserved. The central data layer maps which language I speak with each family member, transforming everyday communication into a structured yet intimate dataset.
The work is rooted in qualitative, lived data - memories, relationships, comfort levels, and conversational habits alongside basic generational hierarchy. Visualisation becomes the method through which this intangible data is organised and made legible. Rather than illustrating a family tree, the piece encodes relational dynamics, allowing viewers to trace patterns and discover how language mediates connection.
Situated within the context of a multilingual family, the project speaks to adaptation as an everyday act. Switching languages, negotiating identity, and bridging cultural nuances become quiet forms of resilience. By mapping these invisible negotiations, the work questions what counts as resilience and what remains unrecorded within family systems.
Data Source
The project uses primarily qualitative data in the form of text which is subjective and experiential. The data comes entirely from my point of view. It is drawn from lived experience. It comes from memories of conversations, patterns of language use, comfort levels, and the emotional dynamics I associate with each family member. Rather than surveys or formal interviews, the work is based on reflective self-documentation and personal observation accumulated over time.
Although it functions as data, it is also a story. The visualisation translates these personal narratives into a structured system, where subjective experiences are encoded and made legible without losing their emotional context.
Technical Requirements
N/A
Project Status & Timeline
This is an existing work. I worked on it around October 2025 and thus will be able to exhibit it on time.