Category: Culture Radar

This week’s Culture Radar guest is Director, Art in Liverpool CIC, Patrick Kirk-Smith.

Loved: Material Matters have the perfect blend of gettable and critical thinking. Into The Wyld, which re-draws the tale of Sir Gawain for modern day Wirral, is their latest unmissable exhibition at the Williamson. 

Looking forward to: There’s a lot to look forward to over the next few months. FACT’s Art Play Games looks exciting; Open Eye’s The Flowers Still Grow looks joyful; and there’s a rare chance for the public to see inside The Athenaeum with their collaborative show with Smithdown Social… and it’s a way off, and I’m biased, but keep your eyes peeled for Independents Biennial next summer. 

Trivia: Art in Liverpool turns twenty this month. Twenty! It started out as a Liverpool Biennial fan-blog, and has documented most visual art events in Liverpool ever since. You can grab a commemorative 20th birthday issue of our newspaper around LCR this month. 

This week our Culture Radar guest is the Tmesis Theatre Performer, Stephanie Greer.

Loved: The Bee exhibition at the World Museum was really magical. I gorgeous mix of art and information. I would highly recommend it.

Looking forward to: The River of Light and Headstrung’s Monster Disco coming to The Unity! – I have a 5 year old so am always looking for ways we can engage with the city’s arts and culture scene as a family.

Trivia: I started off my theatrical endeavours as the back end of a camel when I was 13 and have played countless animals since! I’m about to tour as a selkie (half seal half human) in Tmesis Theatre‘s international tour of SEALSKIN. Lots of dates in the UK so don’t miss it!

This week our Culture Radar guest is Open Eye Gallery’s Joint Head of Social Practice, Sophie Mahon.

Loved: I’ve loved seeing our partnership programme with The Life Rooms develop. It’s been great to work with so many people from across Liverpool and get them excited about photography, from photo walks to pop-up exhibitions; this has been a real pleasure to be involved with!

The Life Rooms provide free, short courses aimed to enable people to become more active in their own health and support wellbeing. As part of our collaborative approach, Open Eye Gallery works in partnership with the Life Rooms to deliver a series of photography courses across all three of their sites in Walton (North Liverpool), Bootle and Southport (Sefton).

Looking forward to: I’m excited for The Flowers Still Grow, our socially engaged photography show at Open Eye Gallery! The exhibition showcases some incredible long-term, collaborative projects that photographers, writers and communities have been working on together throughout the last two years. This time, we’re celebrating the people who make up the communities of Anfield and Garston whilst reflecting on their concerns, experiences, and aspirations of the society around them. The exhibition launches on 12th September at 6 pm – everyone is welcome!

Trivia: Open Eye Gallery is more than just a building! We work with communities and venues all year round, and last year alone welcomed over 200,000 people to creative projects in other venues and communities across the city region – so there’s lots of ways to get involved with the work we do year-round!

This week our Culture Radar guest is Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Wonder Arts, Fay Lamb.

Loved: I love the work of Liverpool based company Whispered Tales and Echoes From The Islands is no exception. Wonder Arts co-commissioned Liverpool artist Gemma Bond to create Pirate Princess – pole work made family friendly by a strong woman being funny and silly is an inspiration for all little girls. I also have to mention Six – 90 minutes of pure joy!

Looking forward to: Monster Disco from Headstrung at the Unity is a must for families. Wonder Boy telling the story of a 12 year old boy living with a stammer will be a powerful watch at The Playhouse. The River of Light, this year based on the theme of Play is also one that I’m not going to miss.

Trivia: Wonder Arts was previously Citadel Arts and operated the Citadel Arts Centre in St Helens. Wonder Arts is now a children and families organisation presenting performances, participation opportunities and artist development in the Liverpool City Region.

This week our Culture Radar guest is Research and Development Lead at Luma Creations, Maya Mitter.

Loved: Latin American Culture Day at Future Yard. It embraced diverse Latin American communities, two dance groups one from Mexico and one from Bolivia, a magical circus from Chile, singer Nelson Gomez from El Salvador and the headlining act of Killabeatmaker from Colombia, and food from Latin America.

Looking forward to: I am looking forward to La Feria with the launch of an exhibition, a theatre production of a powerful play at the Bluecoat, concerts at the Liverpool Philharmonic Music Rooms with two of the biggest names in Latin America, Nano Stern and Marta Gomez, a live music party at Exchange Flags and a fantastic family day in the Palm House.

Trivia: My professional life has been varied from poster designer at fifteen to associate lecturer in Psychology for further education colleges and universities, and now working in the creative arts industry and as a audio documentary maker and writer.

This week our Culture Radar guest is Co-Director of the Liverpool Architecture Foundation CIC (LAF), Lizzie Edge.

Loved: I popped over to Tate Liverpool’s Brickworks exhibition at RIBA North (National Architecture Centre) at Mann Island on my lunch break the week after the exhibition opened. While TATE Liverpool is undergoing exciting redevelopment their partnership with RIBA North has provided a superb opportunity to explore the intersection between art and architecture. As a practising architect with an interest in art, I loved how brick, a common construction material has been utilised in artistic work on display at the exhibition.

Looking forward to: The Anish Kapoor exhibition! I have tried to avoid any spoilers on social media so that I can be really in awe when I step into the Liverpool Cathedral. What a space to showcase his work!

I am also looking forward to checking out the Queer Places: The exhibition at Unit 3 Design Studio, an exhibition of the growing archive of Liverpool’s LGBTQ+ Spaces: Past, Present & Future. It’s been running since June and was part of the Liverpool Architecture Festival 2024 programme, but I didn’t have time to go along to support the project during the festival period. The graphics and promotional materials, including the guide designed by artist Luke Fawcett, look fantastic, so I am eagerly anticipating learning more about Liverpool’s LGBTQ+ heritage.

Trivia: This year, the Liverpool Architecture Foundation reached a major milestone. Our third festival, the Liverpool Architecture Festival 2024 (#LAF24) took place in June. It engaged with over 4,000 people and included a dedicated space for a festival hub and a pop-up exhibition for the first time. The Architecture Showcase presented work from architecture practices based throughout the Liverpool City Region, providing a great opportunity to interact with the public. We are looking forward to achieving more significant milestones for the 2026 festival – stay tuned!

This week our Culture Radar guest is Director of Marketing & Comms, ACC Liverpool, Joanna Rowlands.

Loved: I went to see Taylor Swift at Anfield, not because I’m a massive fan but because I knew I would have mega FOMO if I didn’t when the rest of the city would be there. I LOVED IT! What a show. What a woman. Three solid hours of performance. Being at a big music event makes me so emotional at the best of times so seeing all those young people singing every word and mirroring every dance move, rendered me a puddle.

Looking forward to: I love musicals and invariably have about three in the diary at any one time. We have a system that works – dinner with BYO booze in The Egg, musical at the Empire and a sing song in Ma Egy’s afterwards. It’s always a joy. It’s a way off but I’m really REALLY looking forward to Hamilton coming to Liverpool. I’ve never seen it live but I know all the songs from Disney+. The main challenge will be not singing too loudly in the theatre.

Trivia: My career in the arts started when I worked at the Everyman in 1996 as an usher. It was one long party. I was on a gap year with a day job at John Moores and after work I would hot foot it up the hill to Hope Street to chuck Revels and warm wine at customers, before staying up till the early hours arguing about politics in the much-missed Ev Bistro.

This week our Culture Radar guest is Stakeholder Relations Manager at Liverpool John Moores University, Kerry Weeks (pictured above, right).

Loved: I visited the incredible, immersive Beyond Van Gogh event at the ACC last month and was blown away by this unique approach to experiencing art. I expected it to be visually stunning, but the audio really added to how immersive the experience is and took it to another level.

Looking forward to: This week I had a speedy glance around the fabulous Liverpool Art Fair at the Liver Building as I had a meeting there. I’m planning to go back and take my time, because it definitely warrants a proper visit. For a slight change of pace, tonight I’m heading to the Liverpool Indoor Funfair with my wife! We’re huge fans of funfairs and always make an effort to support the incredible showmen and their families to continue this fabulous tradition.

Trivia: My wife and I film and vlog our visits to theme parks and fun fairs in the UK and overseas, including capturing our on-ride experience on coasters and rides. This has become a real passion of ours over the past two years. It’s given us insight to the fascinating life of the showman and immersed us in the incredible community of showmen, workers and enthusiasts around the world. You can find us @themeparksandadventures on TikTok and YouTube.

 

This week our Culture Radar guest is the Founder and Managing Director of Focal Studios, Dennis Outten.

Loved: We really enjoyed the dance, music, arts, theatre, new street art and comedy at New Brighton Arts Festival, which was organised by one of our partners, CChange (Holy Family Multi Academy Trust) who are also based on Victoria Road. It was fantastic to see how their creative curriculum has directly impacted the lives and aspirations of so many young people who performed or took part in the festival. 

We even got to see scouse legends Space play on the main stage with some of our projection mapping onto Good Hood forming an immersive backdrop!

Looking forward to: It’s another shameless plug for a Wirral event but we’re so excited for the Future Now Festival at Future Yard on Saturday 24th & Sunday 25th August. Especially the peerless Wirral-born She Drew The Gun, whose visceral, hard hitting songwriting expounds the wild injustices faced in 21st century Britain after 14 years of Conservative rule. 

The festival has grown so much that it’s taking over Birkenhead Town Hall and multiple venues across the town, promising to be an incredible weekend of musical talent and celebration. Considering its only 1 stop on the train from James Street, there’s no reason for the Scouse psychological divide to hinder attendance across the water! 

Trivia: Focal Studios have recently taken over the upper floors of the old Natwest Bank on Victoria Road, New Brighton, that we’re turning into a Creative Technology Hub. It’s situated above Jayne Casey’s (CREAM, District, Baltic Triangle) amazing new venue and is promising to be an incredible addition to the city region’s most thriving seaside creative community – Costa Del Newbo. We can’t wait to share it with everyone and begin making an impact on the livelihoods of creatives in the region.

We also have an incredible immersive installation opening in Wilkie’s New Palace (the 1920s fronted arcade and funfair) with artist Di Mainstone, which is a real coup for the region. If you haven’t popped over yet to check out the world-class street art, bars/pubs, cafes/restaurants, galleries, seaside heritage and event spaces, grab your sunnies and come check it out. You’ll probably end up moving here with the rest of us!