The Language Fair

Date and venue

October 19th, 2013 | Fábrica de Cultura (old textile factory Emídio da Silva Raposo), Minde (Portugal)

About the event

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Social and Language Documentation (CIDLeS) cordially invites all the European minority language communities to participate in the Language Fair – a socio-cultural event which aims at getting the general public acquainted with linguistic diversity in Europe, mainly its endangered/minority languages (including those spoken by immigrants). Therefore, this event focuses on discussion and social, intercultural and scientific exchange between different communities that speak endangered/minority languages, on the promotion of their cultural and linguistic heritage, as well as on the presentation of modern bands that perform in their native languages.

There are three different ways for a community to participate in the Language Fair: with an exhibition stand, with a cultural performance or both. In this sense, each community will be able to have a stand to exhibit its own language (for instance through literary and scientific works, films, CDs, DVDs, posters, etc. excepting food), as well as to present the language in a 20-to-30-minute cultural performance (theater sketch, traditional music, cinema, dance, recitation, etc.). The bands will perform in the evening (October 18th and 19th) and their performance will be part of the Endangered Languages Music Festival co-organized by Casa do Povo de Minde that will be launched during this event. The Language Fair aims above all to give the voice to the speakers of minority languages in Europe in diverse ways.

Financial support (a maximum of €300, original receipts are required) will be granted to communities participating with an exhibition stand and/or a cultural performance.

The Language Fair will take place at an old textile factory in Minde – Fábrica Emídio da Silva Raposo. This factory is emblematic of the socioeconomic history of Minde and is intrinsically related to the genesis of Minderico, an endangered language (ISO 639-3 [drc]) spoken in Minde since the end of the 17th century. Minderico emerged as a sociolect, the secret language of a socio-professional group, in this case the blanket producers and traders of Minde. But it rapidly developed into a full-fledged language and became a medium of everyday communication in Minde, used by the whole community. Minderico has approximately 150 active speakers (who use the language daily) and 1000 passive speakers (those who understand the language but do not speak it); its existence is currently seriously endangered.

The Language Fair will close the general event dedicated to the endangered languages in Europe which takes place in Minde and includes the International Conference on Endangered Languages in Europe (October 17th and 18th, http://www.cidles.eu/events/conference-ele-2013/) and the Endangered Languages Music Festival (October 18th and 19th). This event will also host the closing ceremony of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Minde, as well as the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of Casa do Povo de Minde, a celebrated local institution strongly rooted in Minde and its traditions.

Call for community participation

There are three types of participation in the Language Fair: with stand, with cultural performance or with both. According to the kind of participation chosen, the participation description should include the following information:

Participation with stand:

• Brief description of the language community (language, number of speakers, location)
• Number of people participating in the stand
• Technical requirements for the stand

Participation with cultural performance:

• Brief description of the language community (language, number of speakers, location)
• Number of people participating in the cultural performance
• Summary of the cultural performance
• Technical requirements for the performance

Participation with stand and cultural performance:

• Brief description of the language community (language, number of speakers, location)
• Number of people participating in the stand and in the cultural performance
• Summary of the cultural performance
• Technical requirements for the exhibition stand and the performance

The descriptions should be no longer than two A4 pages. The event accepts all the languages in Europe as working languages. However, for intelligibility and dissemination reasons we recommend the use of English. Please send your participation description to ele2013@cidles.eu

Important dates

Deadline for submission of community participation description: June 15th, 2013
Notification of acceptance: June 30th, 2013
Registration deadline for participating communities: September 15th, 2013

Event Dates:

• Conference: October 17th-18th, 2013
• Language Fair: October 19th, 2013
• Endangered Languages Music Festival: October 18th-19th, 2013

Registration fees

Community with stand: 20€
Community with cultural performance: 20€
Community with stand and cultural performance: 30€

All fees are per community (not per person) and include lunch.

Organizer

CIDLeS – Interdisciplinary Centre for Social and Language Documentation
Rua Dr. António da Silva Ferreira Totta 29
2395-182 Minde, Portugal
Tel: +351 249 849 123

Partners

Casa do Povo de Minde

For more information please contact ele2013@cidles.eu.