Slanguages in the Creative Economy - A Report
The Slanguages in the Creative Economy research project – undertaken by Beatfreeks and Slanguages – spoke to 10 artists from the West Midlands who use other languages as part of their work. The ensuing report sees the beauty and power in using different languages, slang and dialect across a range of artistic disciplines. It shows how, in spite of preconceptions, xenophobia and tokenism, multilingualism – and the multiculturalism that it engenders – can be a force for good to change our creative industries and their related economy. In the report you will read about languages from around the world, creative forms which span across genres and styles, and from people with a variety of backgrounds. What unifies them here is the impact that using languages has on their creativity.
Languages are fundamental to all creativity. Use of languages in addition to ‘traditional’ English plays a fundamental role in the UK’s creative economy. They are of value to those who understand the range of languages and even to those who don’t. This report shows the complexity of such practice and sheds a light on some of the possibilities and difficulties that artists face when working with s/languages.
Fabio Thomas
Project Manager at Beatfreeks
Read Noah Birksted-Breen's response to the report>>