WILLEMSTAD – Future Language Innovation (FLI), an international project exploring the evolution of Creole languages and cultures, has officially launched its online platform. With the new website, the public is invited to discover the future of language through a living archive of cultural exchange.
The initiative brings together 16 literary artists and language innovators from Curaçao, Suriname, Spain, Brazil, and beyond. Working in pairs and guided by international mentors, participants publish texts, essays, poems, and multimedia works that explore how Creole languages can inspire new ways of imagining the world. Contributions appear in Papiamentu, Sranantongo, Kriol, Crioulo, and Portuñol, often in dialogue with European languages such as Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese.
“FLI stands for flexibility, freedom, and flow,” explained Joeri Oltheten of Wintertuin Curaçao. “The acronym is inspired by the Papiamentu word for kite. Like a kite, language moves with the wind but stays grounded. This project is about celebrating, creating, and protecting our languages.”
Decolonization, Identity, and Resistance Through Language
The project tackles themes such as decolonization, ecological knowledge, identity, multilingualism, intercultural dialogue, resistance, queer perspectives, social justice, oral traditions, and code-switching.
Curaçao-born linguist Mikayla Vieira Ribeiro contributes writings in Papiamentu, describing Creole innovation as a natural linguistic process—“the place where everything comes together and new possibilities emerge.” Other Curaçao participants include Nataly Burgzorg, Percy Pinedo, Sorandy Sint Jacobs, and Sheedia Jansen. Burgzorg, for example, explores how using multiple languages in a poem can enrich the creative experience for both writer and reader.
International Collaboration and Workshops
In the coming months, participants will take part in workshops such as “Transmedia & AI in Writing Practice,” “The Art of Voice,” and “Writing out of a Corner.” They will also attend masterclasses, including “Creolage and Resistance Through Language” by Xénia Venusta and “Multilingualism as a Power Tool for Literary Writing” by Flurina Badel.
FLI is an initiative of Wintertuin Curaçao, in partnership with Escuela de Escritores (Madrid), Escrever Escrever (Lisbon), and Wintertuin Netherlands (Nijmegen). The project runs until 2026, when participants will present their final creations live at the 8th edition of the Wintertuin Curaçao Festival.
For more information, visit www.futurelanguageinnovation.org or follow on Instagram at @innovashon di idioma den futuro.
