Voiced, host­ed at the Bar­bi­can Cen­tre in Octo­ber 2025, is the first UK cre­ative fes­ti­val to cel­e­brate the lin­guis­tic vital­i­ty of coun­tries around the world, as well as the endan­gered lan­guages and dialects that con­tin­ue to thrive with­in the UK.

Through poet­ry, per­for­mance, talks, live events and visu­al art, the fes­ti­val brought togeth­er a remark­able line-up of artists whose work marks the vast impact art has on lan­guage and lan­guage has on art. Co-curat­ed by Sam Win­ston and Chris McCabe, Voiced intro­duced audi­ences to new ways of think­ing about and engag­ing with lan­guage.

At the heart of Voiced: The Fes­ti­val For Endan­gered Lan­guages is a set of five poet­ry com­mis­sions explor­ing the links between habi­tat and home. In cre­at­ing the Seed Syl­la­ble flags, Sam Win­ston asked each poet to select a sin­gle word to be type­set in their endan­gered or minor­i­ty script. Each word is ren­dered in a unique ink from sub­stances for­aged from the poets’ native land­scapes. The tra­di­tion­al term ​‘Seed Syl­la­ble’ (San­skrit: bīja or bījākṣara) is a short, sacred sound or mantra.

“Voiced cel­e­brates the pow­er of lan­guage and art to locate who we are, from our his­to­ry to our cul­ture to dreams for the future. Whether in this coun­try, or on the front line of cli­mate change, com­mu­ni­ties are fight­ing to sur­vive and keep their shared iden­ti­ty alive.The Bar­bi­can is hold­ing this vital space and invit­ing audi­ences to explore and share their own expe­ri­ences of con­nec­tion, home and hope”. 

— Kare­na Johnson

“In his stu­dio, Sam Win­ston appears less artist, more lin­guis­tic alchemist”

— The Guardian

Exhi­bi­tion Design by Mod­ern Activity

With thanks:

Arts Coun­cil Eng­land, Bar­bi­can Cen­tre, Endan­gered Lan­guages Archive (ELAR), Tim Brookes