With half of the world’s languages threatened to fall silent by the end of the century comes the first ever UK festival Voiced: The Festival for Endangered Languages, celebrating the power of language and art by highlighting endangered global and local languages through a creative festival. Throughout October, the Barbican, London will be filled with an explosion of voices and art highlighting some of the world’s most endangered languages and dialects, with new commissions, workshops, free events and work by new voices from around the world.
Scots author Irvine Welsh says “Without language we have no culture and when we lose language we lose culture. We become androids of the tech age, slaves to algorithms, ready to obey instructions which are reduced only to symbols. The human experience leaks away as we bleed into serfdom.”
Performances and panel discussions for Voiced take place in The Pit, the Barbican’s award-winning space for experimental new performance, including from Irvine Welsh, co-curators poet Chris McCabe and artist Sam Winston, plus the multi prizewinning poet Raymond Antrobus who will perform his works simultaneously presented in British Sign Language by Pettra St Hilaire.
Free highlights include sound artist Jamie Perera’s The Endangered Voices Listening Trail. Discover a unique audio treasure hunt that invites deep listening at the hidden corners of the Barbican. This self-guided trail leads visitors to discreet audio beacons gently broadcasting endangered languages. Visitors are encouraged to seek out these sonic moments, pausing to share space with vanishing voices in quiet, often unnoticed corners. It’s an invitation to lend their ears, reflect and connect with cultures and languages at risk of being forgotten.
Other free highlights throughout October include The Creative Voice Exhibition in the Barbican’s Level G foyer which includes a visual showcase of five new poems, a major new artwork commission – Seed Syllable – by visual artist Sam Winston and a space to discover endangered texts.
For full listings information go to:
www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/event/voiced-the-festival-for-endangered-languages
