Voiced, host­ed at the Bar­bi­can Cen­tre in Octo­ber 2025 and with Man­ches­ter UNESCO City of Lit­er­a­ture in Feb­ru­ary 2026, was 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.

“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, Head of Cre­ative Learn­ing, Bar­bi­can Centre

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

— The Guardian

Exhi­bi­tion Design by Mod­ern Activity

Bar­bi­can Cen­tre, 1 – 31^st Octo­ber 2025

Man­ches­ter Poet­ry Library & Man­ches­ter Met­ro­pol­i­tan Uni­ver­si­ty, 20 – 25^th Feb­ru­ary 2026

With thanks: Arts Coun­cil Eng­land, Bar­bi­can Cen­tre, UNESCO Man­ches­ter City of Lit­er­a­ture, Endan­gered Lan­guages Archive (ELAR), Tim Brookes

Select­ed cre­atives: Irvine Welsh, Ray­mond Antrobus, Joelle Tay­lor, Liz Berry, Batool Abu-Akleen, Jez Dolan, Hanan Issa, Rachel Licht­en­stein, Mererid Hop­wood, Rosie Garland.

Down­load the Voiced: The Fes­ti­val for Endan­gered Lan­guages PDF Prospec­tus