Multicultural Coventry and its history will be at the heart of City of Culture celebrations this month when an event showcasing the city’s range of languages and life stories comes to town.
The life stories and languages that make us who we are in Coventry is the second instalment of the Words and Voices Roadshow, running as part of the University of Warwick’s Resonate Festival.
The free-to-attend event takes place at the Assembly Festival Gardens on Sunday, September 19, between 11am and 7pm.
One of the event organisers is Michael Scott, a TV broadcaster and professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick, who presented BBC 2’s Ancient Invisible Cities.
He said: “We are hugely looking forward to celebrating the many languages spoken in Coventry with a wide range of interactive games and talks for all the family, with everything from making up your own language T-shirt to hearing about how the Coventry accent has changed over time.
“We’ll be starting 2,000 years ago when Latin was spoken in Coventry and running right through to today when, amongst the 100+ languages spoken in Coventry, Latin is making its return following the Government’s recent announcement of £4million funding to help re-introduce Latin into schools across the country!”
Visitors of all ages are invited to the Treehouse from 11am for a range of interactive activities celebrating multi-lingual Coventry, including engaging discussions of its Latin heritage, the global roots of everyday words, and translation games involving animal noises and Disney songs.
The Piccolo Theatre will then stage a series of fascinating talks from 12pm, covering topics such as Coventry’s twin cities, how the Coventry accent has shifted through the ages, and a deeper dive into the many languages spoken in the city.
Adult guests and teenagers can also convene in the Treehouse from midday for a series of workshops and performances that cover pressing societal issues including the Queer and Coloured, and Colonial Hangover research projects about different life stories of our city, and live readings of personal stories related to racism in Coventry’s past.
Visitors will also able to find out more about Warwick Classics Network’s highly ambitious Romans in Coventry project, which aims to bring Coventry and Warwickshire's Roman past to every school and schoolchild in the city. The group has also been supplying online material to support the study of the ancient world with more than 250,000 users since March 2020.
Professor Scott, Director of Warwick Classics Network (WCN), said: “Romans in Coventry project is a new venture rolling out to more than 40 primary schools this September and will have a booth at the event. We have created specific resource packs, including laser scanning objects in The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum with thanks to Warwick Manufacturing Group tech. WCN receives philanthropic funding raised from benefactors, including A. G. Leventis Foundation and Classics for All.”
Co-organiser Kate Astbury, head of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Warwick and Professor of French Studies, said: “We've created lots of activities to celebrate Coventry's languages, from a taster session in Chinese to finding out which English words originally came from other countries or the sounds that animals make in French and German.
“We want to celebrate multilingualism in the city and highlight the fun of learning foreign languages at all ages.”
Dr Cath Lambert, Associate Professor of Sociology at Warwick, who also co-organised the event, said: “Drawing together creative practitioners, community activists and researchers, the workshops and drop-in activities offer opportunities to tell our stories in different ways.
“As well as using languages and spoken word, we explore the ways in which we tell and share stories through making and doing things together.”
Professor Helen Wheatley, director of the Resonate Festival, said: “After the fantastic impact of the first Words and Voices Roadshow event, we are delighted to have the chance to delve deeper into the issues surrounding language and diversity that underpinned so many of the poems that were featured.
“It is a chance for the whole family to get involved in the history of the city through a subject that impacts all of our lives, whether that’s through fun and games or listening to some impactful perspectives on our multicultural city.
“The day will be a great way to feel closer to the city that so many groups call home, and understand the quirks and characteristics that secured its status as UK City of Culture 2021.”
As well as the second Words and Voices Roadshow, there is another free event taking place on the weekend of September 18 and 19 at Coventry’s two Cathedrals, University Square and The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.
The Meanwhile Festival is a two-day celebration of storytelling, illustration and comic books with more than 50 internationally renowned artists and writers on the guest-list and dozens of free events, lectures and workshops. For further information and tickets visit https://www.meanwhilefestival.com/
As a principal partner supporting Coventry City of Culture 2021, the University of Warwick is hosting Resonate Festival, an innovative 12-month programme of public events including talks, public conversations, film festivals, walking tours, debates and much more.
It will culminate in a multi-day festival on campus in April 2022.
For more information visit warwick.ac.uk/about/cityofculture/get-involved/programme/current-events/words_and_voices
For more information on The Resonate Festival visit: warwick.ac.uk/about/cityofculture/get-involved/programme