WDC 2026 | TUQTULI | Dialogwerkstatt

Tuqtuli is a dialogical communication principle where signs are lined up like words in real time. It is useful wherever people lack a shared language, an interpreter and translation apps – such as when travelling, with refugees, in connection with humanitarian aid.

Tuqtuli can also be used in a more elaborate, vectorised form for longer-lasting messages – such as in public spaces, in books, on package inserts, in connection with games.

Tuqtuli aims to involve as many as different people as possible as co-creators and testers of a new visual way of global communication. It brings together popular culture of our days with the visual heritage of communities and the creativity of individuals. It seeks to bridge divides and enhance cross-cultural understanding.

And it's great fun!

The project started in 2024 and since then has been at conferences, festivals and universities in Belgium, France, Germany, Japan and the US.

06 May 2026
11 a.m. – 5 p.m.: Frankfurter Botschaft

Building on the workshop on the Frankfurt Jacket taking place two weeks earlier, this session focuses on creating a message written in TUQTULI as a patch or print. Your democratic convictions can find expression here as a greeting, a personal statement, or a reminder to yourself — individual or universal, eye-catching or discreet.

Registration opens in mid-April 2026. Registration process will follow.

06 May 2026
from 7 p.m.: Language-Independent Communication Worldwide

Juli Gudehus will give a lecture on her TUQTULI project, followed by a panel discussion focusing on the potential and future perspectives of TUQTULI.

Guests include:
● Dr. Eliane Ettmüller / Frankfurt / scholar of Islamic studies and political science, active in the field of educational work
● N.N. from the field of linguistics
● Dr. Tobias Gantner / Cologne / physician, now consultant in the field of health literacy
● Andreas Knauf / Darmstadt / attorney specializing in copyright and trademark law

Additional program outside the Museum Angewandte Kunst:

4 May: “Give Me Signs!”
Closed workshop for students of the Hessian University of Applied Sciences for Public Management and Security (HöMS).

Both in the police force and in public administration, situations occasionally arise in which the lack of a shared language makes communication impossible. What can be done if no interpreter is available and there are no translation apps? In this workshop, students from the Police and Administration departments at HöMS will learn together how to communicate using the TUQTULI principle.

1 April – 10 June 2026: The Milulayu Project
Seminar at the University of Design in Schwäbisch Gmünd with students.

In its elaborated, vectorized form, TUQTULI can also be used for longer-lasting messages—such as in public spaces, in books, or, as in the Milulayu project, in medication package inserts.

For many people, the information provided in such leaflets is not accessible: people who are illiterate, people with reading difficulties, and those who do not understand the language spoken around them. During the summer semester, students at the University of Design Schwäbisch Gmünd will therefore translate package inserts for various medications into signs based on the TUQTULI principle.

The results will be presented as part of the Campus Festival.

Juli Gudehus is the initiator and motor of the tuqtuli project. Comparing apples and oranges is her daily bread. Juli sees and establishes connections between phenomenons, people, and things. She has worked with and on signs since 1992. Language and everyday culture are rich sources for her multifaceted work that has been shown and published internationally.

Mastodon https://typo.social/@tuqtuli

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/tuqtuli/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557114759155

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tuqtuli/