{"id":23193,"date":"2026-02-17T14:10:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/?post_type=agenda&#038;p=23193"},"modified":"2026-02-21T00:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:55:13","slug":"international-mother-language-day-2","status":"publish","type":"agenda","link":"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/en\/agenda\/international-mother-language-day-2\/","title":{"rendered":"International Mother Language Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On International Mother Language Day, UNESCO Cities of Literature worldwide will present a new digital exhibition: <em>No Tongues Left to Chant<\/em>. The exhibition is an international collaboration initiated by Manchester City of Literature, featuring poems in 16 endangered languages, including Frisian, Platdeutsch, Gaelic, Welsh, Yiddish and even two languages with no remaining first-language speakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leeuwarden UNESCO City of Literature contributes to the exhibition with an untitled poem by Frisian poet Jan Kleefstra (1964). His poetry explores the impact of humanity on the earth and the inseparable connection between all living things. For Kleefstra, writing can only be the expression of a childlike fascination. Writing should express what the senses perceive in an abstract way \u2013 and the reflection of this perception breaks down into fragments, which form part of a larger never-ending whole.<br>His poem was first published in collaboration with Belgian artist Christophe Ywaska for the project &#8216;Teleferick&#8217; (2021). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Jan Kleefstra&#8217;s poem in English, translated by David McKay:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23338\" style=\"width:504px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3.png 1080w, https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3-960x1200.png 960w, https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3-480x600.png 480w, https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3-768x960.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Collaboration with Bremen UNESCO City of Literature<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Specially for International Mother Language Day, Cities of Literature Bremen and Leeuwarden translated each other&#8217;s poems into their respective languages. The L\u00e4nderzentrum f\u00fcr Niederdeutsch provided a Low German translation of Jan Kleefstra&#8217;s poem, while Ytsje Steen translated into Frisian the poem Christine Glenewinkel from Bremen contributed the digital exhibition. In <em>Selensl\u00f6tel<\/em>, she writes about the deeper meaning of language and what it means to write in another language \u2013 here is a passage from the Frisian translation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Yn it Platd\u00fatsk gie it skriuwen as fansels. Want yn it Platd\u00fatsk wie it in oar ik yn my dy\u2019t skreau. In earlike stim, dy\u2019t as in bern oan \u2019e h\u00e2n fan in folwoeksene rint, dy\u2019t dat bern gewoan dwaan lit. In stim dy\u2019t him net earst skammet, mar earst fielt. In stim dy\u2019t net klaget, mar docht en wit dat it hert gelyk hat.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The full translation can be downloaded below, and Christine Glenewinkel&#8217;s original text can be heard in Plattdeutsch on the Manchester City of Literature <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestercityofliterature.com\/project\/no-tongues-left-to-chant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a>. You can also find the entire digital exhibition there, which is free to visit. Take a look and discover remarkable scripts, readings, recordings, illustrations, and pictographic language!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23349\" style=\"width:510px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2-2.png 1080w, https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2-2-960x1200.png 960w, https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2-2-480x600.png 480w, https:\/\/leeuwardencityofliterature.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2-2-768x960.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br><em>With special thanks to Manchester UNESCO City of Literature,&nbsp;<em>Bremen<\/em>&nbsp;UNESCO City of Literature, Literaturhaus Bremen and L\u00e4nderzentrum f\u00fcr Niederdeutsch.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23195,"parent":0,"menu_order":483,"template":"","agenda_activity":[172,155,129],"agenda_language":[243,111,156,105],"class_list":["post-23193","agenda","type-agenda","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","agenda_activity-exhibition","agenda_activity-languagecampaign","agenda_activity-reading-campaign","agenda_language-dutch-en","agenda_language-english","agenda_language-multilingual-en","agenda_language-frisian"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - 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