As part of the ninth Liverpool Biennial, jointly presented with Bluecoat a series of new commissions by Irish artist Dennis McNulty under the title Homo Gestalt, which includes a data driven installation in Bluecoat’s Vide, a digital app and an off-site performance work set around New Hall Place, a 1970s 13-storey brutalist style office located in Liverpool’s commercial district.
McNulty is interested in regulatory systems – mechanical, technological, managerial, financial, biological, cognitive, social – and how their structures, constraints and possibilities affect our behaviours and environment. For this new body of work he draws on fictional and real world sources, such as More than Human by science-fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon, which describes a scenario in which multiple humans blend abilities to act as a single organism. McNulty pairs this idea with the ‘multinode’, a concept developed by pioneering cyberneticist Stafford Beer to describe a collective biological or mechanic decision-making entity. The result is Homo Gestalt, a collective technology, performed into existence by audience participation.
Homo Gestalt forms part of Liverpool Biennial 2016’s Software episode, pointing to a broader social and cultural understanding of technology beyond pure technical applications
Bluecoat Display Centre is delighted to present a solo show of stunning hand blown glass by the Irish glass artist Catherine Keenan. Catherine says “The physical rhythm required to work with molten glass is what I fell in love with. I wish to communicate the vitality and exuberance of the making experience. I like to be playful with the material and hope that my pieces themselves are joyful in the use of colour and pattern”.
Catherine Keenan’s fascination with hot glass began while studying at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. Graduating in 2006, she is currently Resident Artist at Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart. Keenan has since won many awards and is presented in important national collections including Ulster Museum and the National Museum of Ireland
How did Liverpool react to the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin?
What do we know about the Liverpool people who took part? Curated by library and Records Office researchers, with archivist Helena Smart, this exhibition of artefacts tells a forgotten chapter of local input in to Ireland’s history, providing a fascinating insight into the library itself, its resources, and local history.
Told through documents, photographs and articles from materials ordinarily held by the Liverpool Record Office and Central Library, additional material has come from the Liverpool 1916 Commemoration Committee
All musicians are welcome to join in with this session hosted by The Caledonia.
Focussing on Irish music and its American ties, the session will go with the flow of the folks who show up.
Last orders at midnight
A fun and inclusive class for all the family, including traditional ceílí dances with a bit of set dance and sean-nós (Irish ‘old style’ tap dance) thrown in.
Movema are a multi-award winning company specialising in dances from around the world and long-time collaborators with the festival. These weekly classes are led by Director Maria Malone, who regularly calls at ceílís around Merseyside
Take this walk though Liverpool’s historic Rodney and Hope Street areas, discovering colourful characters and long-lost histories.
Who was the White Angel and where is she now? Who came for the weekend and stayed for 20 years? And, did a Bishop really get stoned?
Kelly’s Dispensary is a home-from-home for the many Irish who now live in Liverpool.
Involved in the community, sponsoring local Gaelic teams, the trad session has been a great addition to Kelly’s (and the festival) in recent years, where performers receive free food and drink
‘One of Ireland’s great singer-songwriters’, the Guardian
Dempsey, from Dublin’s north side, counts among his fans: Brian Eno and Sinéad O’Connor; Bob Dylan, U2 (with whom he has shared a bill) and Morrissey, who invited him to support him on his US tour. He has recorded a unique album, No Force on Earth, as a celebration and commemoration of the Easter Uprising of 1916 that saw the birth of the Irish Republic. In his homeland, Damien is held in the highest regard by peers and audiences and – as well as a string of number ones – he has a haul of Meteor Awards. This is a one off opportunity to see Dempsey in an intimate setting, sharing his story of this centenary year, with all the close up intensity that his acoustic performances engender
£17.50 from the Liverpool Philharmonic (+ booking fees)
2016 marks the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising and is a commemoration of one of the most tumultuous rebellions in Irish history.
Curated by Jessie Malone in association with Cork Printmakers, four artists from Belfast Print Workshop, Black Church Print Workshop, Dublin, Cork Printmakers & Limerick Printmakers have collaborated in the creation of 16, a unique box-set and exhibition of prints. Jessie Malone curated the selection of four artists from each print studio. The artist was then invited to make one image, in response to the theme of the 1916 Easter Rising; in an edition of twenty, on paper measuring sixteen inches square.
This exhibition forms a unique record of Irish contemporary art in the medium of printmaking and showcases the high standard of skills and variety of techniques currently being utilised in Ireland
Free, roll up and look for Liverpool Irish Festival signs
Half-hour slots are given to local musicians and performers to perform informal, acoustic seisiúns in this post-show, ‘relax and wind down’ hour. Seisiún performers volunteered themselves in advance of the festival and have been selected for their ability, charm and capacity to share the stage with audiences, who are encouraged to sing along, bring instruments and generally take part in the activity
Social seisiún platlist PDF available.
