This started as an idea for 26 to help International PEN - a worthy cause - to spread the word about itself. So for the 2008 'Free the word' festival we ran the blog. For 2009 the blog continued around the next festival in April, with the addition of this idea: pair a writer from 26 with a writer from PEN. The PEN writer sends an email with a piece of their own writing in their own language - poem or story - to the 26 writer. The 26 writer has to explore the meaning of the writing in whatever way they chose. The result was some fantastic explorations of writing, language and translation.
We decided this was more than just a blog so we approached the London Design Festival. They helped us find a venue for an exhibition at this year's festival. So we got Harry Pearce from Pentagram and Sanky from Allofus on board. The exhibition opens next Monday 21st and runs till Friday 25th - 9.30 till 5.30 daily. It's at the Royal Academy of Engineering, 3 Carlton House Terrace. It's going to be a fantastic exhibition that has appeal and relevance to everyone in 26 - hope as many of you as possible can get down there to see and hear it.
The project gew into multimedia - sounds as well as images, some beautiful words in many languages, a stunning exhibition and a lovely book designed by David Carroll in association with Harry Pearce.
