زبان zabaañ is a collaborative sanctuary space strictly reserved for the voices of artists with South Asian heritage. Through conversation, critical exchange and experimentation we celebrate and reflect on the collective richness of our linguistic and sonic traditions to reclaim and rewrite erased histories while imagining future cultures.

A mutually supportive community for Brown spoken word artists, poets, writers and sound artists to test and share material, experiment with performance techniques and collaborate internationally to publish and perform radical new work.

South Asia is rich in spoken languages and written scripts together with regionally dominant cultural forces of music, street theatre and visual art. Their representation and use have increasingly become forms of resistance; through cultivation and dispersion of ancestral and contemporary cultural practices embodied within the multiple contiguous trajectories of its poetic, oral and sonic histories.

زبان zabaañ is an experimental nomadic space celebrating a global South Asian cultural movement proudly and unapologetically exploring our many complex identities and narratives. Alongside and in opposition to vocabularies of colonialism — we write, listen and perform for future generations; speaking the language of our families and ancestors who fought to make it possible for us to exist.

We’re working on the launch of زبان zabaañ with a series of events in various cities, both in-person and online; actively looking to partner with funders, cultural organisations, community centres and venues interested in collaborating or offering space and support. Currently building our community for this initiative, we aim to create space for artists from the whole South Asia region: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kashmir, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Please send enquiries through the contact email below. If you are a spoken word artist, poet, writer or sound artist of South Asian heritage there is also a link below to our private Instagram page. Send us a request to follow. Get involved and be a part of our family. Svagatam.

“If you forget your language your mother dies. Language is mother”

Mohinder Kaur Bhamra from Punjabis of Southall: 70 years of Struggles and Achievements