Community Post Type: News

The monumental outdoor work, an ‘action’ presented as part of the Inside Out Project (a global participatory art initiative founded by French artist JR), will be presented at Royal Albert Dock from 30 July. 

Titled ‘Think of Us’, the piece will be composed of hundreds of black and white portraits of Year 6 children from across Merseyside, printed as posters and pasted around the perimeter of the dock at water level. An audio accompaniment and online learning resource, which invites every Year 6 pupil in Merseyside to participate from home or in school, will also be presented alongside the work. Both will be available on biennial.com.

Throughout May and June, the Liverpool Biennial team will be working with educational partners across six boroughs, supporting the engagement of children across a broad range of schools and other educational settings, empowering them to explore how they interact with and understand the world. Workshops will focus on three core themes: ‘Portraits and Identity’, ‘Reclaiming Public Spaces’ and ‘Art and Social Change’. Following the workshops, each child will have their portrait taken and be invited to record a short verbal response, which will be used to create the audio element of the artwork.  

The project has been devised to empower the region’s schoolchildren who, at the transitional stage of Year 6, are starting to seek out more independence and develop self-awareness ahead of moving on to secondary school.

For more details, visit the Biennial website.

Liverpool is set to become home to a new International Music and Technology Innovation Hub as part of efforts to attract investment and grow its booming music and creative tech sector.

H.O.M.E (House Of Music & Entertainment), an international network connecting entrepreneurs, investors and creatives, has announced plans to open a new workspace at Liverpool’s Royal Court later this year.

The Liverpool base will provide a landing point for the music and music tech industry while helping local firms tap into global opportunities.

Backed by Liverpool City Council, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and industry partners including MusicFutures, and MusicTech UK (MTUK), the centre is being positioned as a boost to the city region’s growing reputation as a hub for music innovation and creative technology.

The decision to establish a Liverpool base reflects the city region’s growing international reputation for music innovation, underpinned by initiatives such as MusicFutures, the leadership of the Liverpool Music Office and Liverpool City Region Music Board, its UNESCO City of Music status, and increasing collaboration between the creative, digital and research sectors.

The move is a strong vote of confidence in Liverpool’s fast-growing ecosystem, bringing together entrepreneurs, technologists and creatives in one space to collaborate and develop new ideas.

A recent report commissioned by Liverpool City Council and published in partnership with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and MusicFutures highlighted the scale and potential of Liverpool City Region’s music economy, revealing it is already worth around £780 million a year and supporting more than 14,000 jobs.

The study concluded the sector is on a clear trajectory to grow into a £1 billion industry by 2035, underlining its increasing importance as a driver of innovation, investment and economic growth across the region.

H.O.M.E is a global music and technology network that connects entrepreneurs, investors, and creatives through a programme of collaborative workspaces, industry events and international partnerships.

Designed to support innovation-led growth, it helps businesses access new markets, build relationships and develop opportunities across a connected global community.

It currently has international hubs and partner locations in London, Berlin and Tokyo. It can support Liverpool to attract investment, foster talent and accelerate growth across sectors including music technology, creative industries and digital innovation.

The Royal Court hub will host investor showcases, industry networking events, visiting international delegations, business support activity and collaborative projects, helping to position Liverpool as a gateway for international investment in music, media and technology.

The hub will provide Liverpool City Region businesses, freelancers and entrepreneurs in the music and music tech industries with access to international networks, investors, market opportunities and collaborative partnerships that can help accelerate growth and innovation.

The announcement builds on Liverpool’s wider programme of international engagement, strengthening relationships with investors, entrepreneurs and creative businesses across key global markets and supporting the city’s ambitions for sector growth and inward investment.

Wyrd Wyrale is a one-day cultural festival rooted in Wirral’s liminal identity, celebrating the wyrd, the overlooked, and the half-told histories of this hidden corner of England.

Taking place at Bidston Observatory, high on Bidston Hill and overlooking the Rivers Mersey and Dee, the festival brings together live music, performance, talks, storytelling, and unexpected encounters across the site. Once a place of watching and measuring the world, the Observatory becomes a gathering point for sound, story, and the unseen.

Across the day, performances will unfold from local artists including Common Folk, Flowershow, Grace Elizabeth Harvey, The Del Roswells, Wooden Tape, OORYA, and more still to be announced. Music, performance, conversation, and ritual move through the building and grounds, inviting audiences to wander, listen, and linger in the wyrd.

Wyrd Wyrale takes place within and around the Observatory building, home to the Bidston Observatory Artistic Research Centre (BOARC) — a self-organised, not-for-profit space dedicated to experimentation, communality, and unfixed ideas. For one day, Bidston Hill becomes a site of gathering: a celebration of Wirral’s wyrd culture, its in-between nature, and the stories that still cling to the land.

Book tickets via Eventbrite.

**It’s still possible to book accommodation for the night at BOARC.**

Prices start from £22 pp for a space in our 8 bed dorm.

£33 pp for a bed in a dorm of 3 or 4.

£44 pp for a double room (1 remaining).

Contact to book: enquiries@bidstonobservatory.org

ArtsGroupie are still reeling from this month’s Liverpool City Region Culture & Creativity Awards, where they made history as the first-ever winners of the Creative/Media Organisation of the Year award, sponsored by The Guide Liverpool.

Their journey began at the Lantern Theatre, where they set out to dismantle gatekeeping and champion working-class voices. Their foundation was built by the incredible teamwork of Margaret Connell directing their plays, actress Samantha Alton bringing their characters to life, and David Griffiths’ creativity, which helped reach an international audience and gain recognition in The New York Times.

They are so proud of these roots, including their magnum opus, Kitty: Queen of the Washhouse, which they look forward to bringing back in 2027.

From those beginnings, the support of venues like Shakespeare North Playhouse and Unity Theatre and their walking tours has been vital in building a loyal audience.

For the latest news and events, visit the ArtsGroupie website.

Walker Art Gallery has reopened its contemporary galleries, bringing a group of recent acquisitions into public view for the first time.

At the centre of the rehang is Michael Landy’s kinetic sculpture Multi-Saint (2013), made after the artist’s residency at the National Gallery in London and inspired by the Italian Renaissance painter Carlo Crivelli. Drawing on Christian iconography, it brings together five martyred saints, Catherine, Lucy, Peter Martyr, Lawrence and Michael, tying the new display back to the Walker Art Gallery’s collection of religious art from the 15th century onwards.

Around it hang other works, all new to the Walker’s collection and on display here for the first time. Shaqúelle Whyte’s In an embroiled fashion (2025) shows two men wrestling while a third looks on, painted with energetic brushwork and a dark, rich palette. Eva Helene Pade’s I mørket (In the dark) (2025) sets a figure in a dark, ambiguous light, drawing on the Northern European expressionist tradition of artists like Edvard Munch. Louise Giovanelli’s Mise en scène (2025) draws on a still from a 1970s film of a young woman taking communion, and brings the artist back to the Walker after she sat on the John Moores Painting Prize jury here in 2025.

Among the new acquisitions is Ebun Sodipo’s diptych What if Laure Was / A Black Goddess Come to Earth (2025), which reimagines Laure, the Black woman who posed for the servant in Manet’s Olympia (1863) but whose own life went largely unrecorded. Sodipo builds a new story for her in digital prints, Mylar and resin. The display also includes photographs by Jenny Lewis from her UnBecoming series, made as she documented her own experience of ageing and the menopause alongside images of her daughter. In total the rehang brings together works by 11 artists, all new to the Walker’s collection and shown here for the first time.

Two of the works, by Landy and Whyte, came to the Walker through the Contemporary Art Society’s Collections Fund at Frieze, selected by the fund’s committee and the gallery’s curators at Frieze London in 2025.

Charlotte Keenan McDonald, Head of Walker Art Gallery, said: “We’re really pleased to be showing this selection of works to the public for the first time. They’re all new to the collection, and together they give a sense of what the Walker is collecting today, set against the historic works people know us for. With the gallery’s 150th anniversary coming in 2027, it’s the perfect time to show how the collection keeps growing.”

Later in the year, the new acquisitions become the subject of a curator-led tour as part of the Walker’s ‘Beyond The Label’ series of talks, where visitors can walk the contemporary galleries with the curators who put the rehang together and hear how recent additions are changing the shape of the collection.

Alongside the new acquisitions, a selection of past prize winners of the John Moores Painting Prize return to public display after a brief absence. The late David Hockney’s Peter Getting Out of Nick’s Pool (1966) is showcased alongside winning works by artists including Peter Doig, Tim Head, and Dan Hays. More prizewinning works will return to the gallery’s walls in the coming months.

Two major exhibitions are also on show at the Walker this summer. Sir John Akomfrah’s Listening All Night To The Rain brings his acclaimed Venice Biennale commission to the city in a radical takeover of the gallery’s portico. Gender Stories is an exploration and celebration of gender through a diverse collection of fine and decorative art, personal stories and objects, and includes further works by Sodipo and Lewis. Both exhibitions run until 31 August 2026.

Entry to Walker Art Gallery is free for everyone. Donations help keep the gallery free and open to all, and help care for the collection for future visitors to enjoy.

Liverpool’s Pride is set to return on 24–25 July 2026 with a city-wide celebration featuring live music, community events, a Pride march and a new Community Expo at Liverpool Experience Campus (LEX). Organised by Sahir, Liverpool’s Pride, LCR Pride Foundation and LEX, thousands of people are expected to take part in the celebrations.

The celebrations begin on Friday 24 July with the opening party at the M&S Bank Arena, featuring performances from Sugababes, Beth Ditto and more.

The Saturday celebrations taking place at the arena will include performances from Liverpool dance collective House of Suarez, pop star Sonia and rising star Jester Boy. The day will be hosted by Liverpool favourite Debbie Darling, with additional acts still to be announced.

A major addition for 2026 is the Community Expo, which will be hosted inside Liverpool Experience Campus and organised by Sahir and the LCR Pride Foundation. The expo will bring together charities, community groups, independent traders and brands, creating a space for visitors to connect with local organisations, discover LGBTQ+ initiatives and support independent makers.

In addition, the Pride March will once again see thousands of people take to Liverpool city centre in a show of visibility, solidarity and celebration. Registration is now open for community groups, charities, businesses and individuals wishing to take part.

Opening Party

The festivities get underway on Friday 24 July with Liverpool’s Pride Opening Party at the M&S Bank Arena. Leading the line-up are pop favourites Sugababes, alongside Beth Ditto, Bimini, Tia Kofi, House Gospel Choir and Horse Meat Disco, as well as a showcase of Liverpool LGBTQ+ talent.

It’s a line-up that reflects what Pride has always done well – bringing together big-name artists and homegrown talent in a space where people can celebrate and be themselves. Importantly, proceeds from the event will support Sahir and help fund the wider Liverpool’s Pride programme.

Saturday Celebrations

Saturday sees the return of the Liverpool’s Pride March, one of the city’s most visible displays of solidarity. Thousands of people are expected to take part, with LGBTQ+ communities, allies, charities, businesses and organisations coming together to march through the city centre.

Beyond the march, there will be plenty happening throughout the day, with the Pride Expo and events across the Pride Quarter adding to what organisers hope will be a fully immersive Pride experience. Charities, community groups, independent traders and brands can book a space at the Expo via prideinliverpool.co.uk/expo-2026-vendor-booking.

Liverpool’s Pride takes place on 24–25 July 2026.

For more information, tickets and registration, visit the Liverpool’s Pride website.