YOUR VOICES, BY ES DEVLIN
Moët & Chandon illuminates December in New York City. This festive season, the Maison will bring people together to build memorable moments in the Big Apple. As a hallmark of the occasion, Moët & Chandon has commissioned a public sculpture, ‘Your Voices’, by British contemporary artist, Es Devlin to celebrate New York as the most linguistically diverse city on the planet where over 700 languages are spoken. Installed at Lincoln Center Plaza, the illuminated kinetic sculpture will feature free weekend public performances by New York-based multilingual singing groups from December 6 - 18 6PM.
A GESTURE TO CELEBRATE
CULTURAL CONNECTION
IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
The revolving sculpture, ‘Your Voices’, is formed of 700 glowing cords expressing the more than 700 languages currently spoken in New York City, which are tensioned between a series of structural arcs, enveloping visitors within a revolving illuminated network as it rotates north, south, east and west through a multilingual soundscape which interweaves languages drawn from all over the city: from Algerian, Arabic, Alsation, Azeri and Ashanti to Zapotec, Zarma and Zulu.
LINCOLN CENTER PLAZA
PERFORMANCES
The illuminated sculpture, installed at Lincoln Center Plaza, will feature free public performances by New-York based multilingual singing groups, each Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 6PM from December 6 until December 18.
SCHEDULE OF THE EVENTS
(all dates at 6PM)
THE SCULPTURE
BY BRITISH CONTEMPORARY ARTIST ES DEVLIN
“As the sculpture revolves, it acts as a lens between the viewer and their surroundings,” says Es Devlin. The viewer’s perspective is spliced and framed by the shifting strands of the sculpture as it turns, evoking the way our perspectives are enriched and shaped by experiencing the linguistic structures and identities of others, amidst a soundscape in which the powerful text from E.M Forster’s 1910 novel, Howards End, has been translated into multiple overlaid languages: “Only connect, and live in fragments no longer”.
TOAST FOR A CAUSE
INITIATIVE
This year, inspired by ‘Your Voices’, for its Toast for a Cause initiative, Moët & Chandon will make a donation to the Endangered Language Alliance, to preserve global languages spoken in New York City.
