Voice-Vouaïe

Voice-Vouaïe is an audio-visual project from Guernsey in the Channel Islands. The aim was to record people who grew up with Guernesiais (‘JEHR-nehz-yay’), the ancestral language of Guernsey. The project was a partnership between photographer Aaron Yeandle, Language Consultant Yan Marquis & Guernsey Museums. Vouaïe (‘v-wye’) means ‘voice’ in Guernesiais.

Work on the project itself began in November 2018 and it ran into 2020. It is fitting that much of the project took place in 2019, UNESCO’s International Year of Indigenous languages.

The project afforded the ideal opportunity to document the island’s Guernesiais speakers. Together the photographs and audio recordings create a contemporary snapshot of the language from 2018-2020 and will remain a striking and permanent social record of Guernesiais and its speakers.