Celebrating languages and dialects across the United Kingdom

To showcase the ‘Nottingham model’ for celebrating language and languages as heritage, we have worked with projects beyond Nottinghamshire to demonstrate new pathways to celebrate languages and languages heritage in the United Kingdom more widely. We awarded three small ‘Celebrating languages heritages’ grants to arts organisations in Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester, working with local communities to devise and co-deliver projects in 2025, made possible by funding from the Nottingham Trent University Impact Accelerator Fund.

Our language, our heritage – Manchester Central Library (with particular thanks to Alessia Benedetti, Angela Rawcliffe, Sophie Gardiner, Judit Varhelyi and Yellow Jigsaw) and all their community groups. Here is how they describe the project:

As part of this project, Central Library worked with local migrant communities to explore their relationship with their native language. We asked Sophie Gardiner from Migrant Support to deliver workshops for her learners to celebrate all the different languages represented in the group. The sessions involved looking at common phrases and making zines as a way of sharing language and thoughts. We worked with the Manchester Youth Network to showcase their poster creations and zines. The zine they created was made into a published zine, and the young people who created it had real pride in showing their contributions. Prof Natalie Braber also led a workshop with our Conversation Club who are predominantly from Hong Kong. The group really enjoyed the chance to look at their language and to talk about the English words and phrases they found confusing. The project finished with a celebration of language. On this occasion we created a film to record attendees and create a legacy for the project. The attendees were given the chance to speak about the language and heritage and what it means to them. The film was created by Yellow Jigsaw. Visit our blog to watch the film and find out more!

Mother Tongue – Women and Theatre (with particular thanks to Adaya Henry and Queennie Lim) and their theatre group. Here they describe their project:

Participants explored how language lives within us, not only as a tool for communication, but as something embodied through rhythm, sound and memory. The sessions created a space for women to reflect on how their voices have been shaped by family, place, migration and identity and how language moves across generations and borders.

Using theatre as a tool for exploration, the group engaged in oral storytelling, drawing on personal experiences and shared cultural references. They experimented with the musicality of speech, the rhythms, tones and textures of different dialects – and considered how meaning can be expressed beyond literal understanding. The process also opened up conversations around identity and perception: how we are heard, how we are understood, and how our voices carry assumptions about who we are.

Participants were encouraged to embrace all forms of language, whether regional, multilingual, or personal, with no requirement to be bilingual, only a willingness to share and create. The project culminated in the recording of a series of original oral stories, anecdotes and monologues forming an audio archive of the group’s voices, experiences and creative work. This archive stands as both a documentation of the process and a celebration of language as living heritage – something carried in the body, passed between people, and continuously evolving.

Languages of Ulster – National Museums Northern Ireland (with particular thanks to Sarah Baccianti, Hannah Crowdy, Peter Carson and Kerry Sinnerton) and all the volunteers who took part in the video!

As part of the wider Celebrating languages across the United Kingdom initiative, Voices of Ulster explores how language shapes identity and belonging in Northern Ireland. Led by National Museums NI, the project took members of staff beyond the museum walls and into everyday public spaces, engaging directly with passers-by. Rather than asking people to come to the museum, Voices of Ulster met people where they were: on streets, along the seafront and in community settings, inviting spontaneous reflections on language, accent and identity. A short ‘vox pop’ film was created to capture reflections on language and heritage, offering a snapshot of Ulster’s linguistic diversity. These encounters  highlighted the richness and diversity of linguistic experience across Northern Ireland. By stepping into public space, the project modelled a more outward-facing and conversational approach to heritage. One that listens first, values lived experience and recognises language as a vital, evolving part of our shared story.