Giving Guernesiais a 'Vouaïe'

Sunday 01 March 2020

100 island residents, who grew up speaking Guernesiais, have already been photographed and recorded as part of a local social history project which aims to keep the island alive.

'Vouaïe' - or 'Voice' - is a partner project between Guernsey Museums, Language Consultant Yan Marquis and Photographer Aaron Yeandle.

It began back in November 2018, with the aim of including 100 people by 2020 - a goal which has been met very early in the year.

In order to take part in the project, a person must have grown up in an environment where Guernesiais was spoken regularly.

While some participants still speak the language on a daily basis, others hardly use it at all and have been rediscovering it through the project.

Pictured: One participant in the project (image from aaronyeandle.com).

So far, Mr Yeandle has taken just over 100 portrait photos of participants in their own homes, while Mr Marquis has recorded audio of each person speaking Guernsey French. 

An exhibition will go on display at Beau Sejour this summer and the portraits will then be kept as part of the local museum archive. The project team intends to loan aspects of the collection to other organisations in Guernsey, as well as further afield.

The project has already received attention from other language groups and individuals, including Donald Murray - a native Hebridean writer and speaker of Scottish Gaelic, who saw Mr Yeandle speaking in Gibraltar.

"I looked at Aaron's photos and they reminded me of people I have met in the Western Isles, speaking their own indigenous language," Mr Murray said. "Even the homes have so many similarities - the curtains and carpets you can see in the background, the objects on the walls. The photographs really resonated with me."

The project is being financially supported by the Guernsey Arts Commission and Specsavers.

"The portraits and audio provide a snapshot," added Access & Learning Manager at Guernsey Museums, Jo Dowding. "[They are] an invaluable record of the language and will be used in teaching and learning now and in the future."

Pictured top: Image from aaronyeandle.com.