The Liverpool Biennal happens, well, every two years unsurprisingly and over the last decade has been a strong element of Liverpool’s reinvention as a place of artistic energy and creativity. It’s a festival which causes some division amongst Liverpool’s artistic community as it is a showcase of international art with commisions going to artists from all over the world and works being shown from internationally renowned names with, some see, not enough attention given to the city’s own artists — but then it would really only be a pointless exercise for Liverpool and not the internationally recognised event that it is! The 2 month long event takes place in all the cities galleries but also spills into many other spaces such as outdoor public places and cafes and bars which means that the city does come alive with unusual sights and sounds.
Tina W.
Place rating: 5 Liverpool, United Kingdom
Liverpool Biennial 2010 runs from Sept 18th to November 28th. It’s the sixth in a series of the city’s biennial celebrations which showcase artistic and creative genius from all over the world. This year’s theme is «TOUCHED: art that moves the viewer in mind, body and soul,» and promises to be a very stimulating 10 weeks. There are over 40 projects hosted in venues around the city: Tate, FACT and the Bluecoat Chambers are just some of those chosen. Most of the events are free and available to anybody! Great for the family and those with an artistic eye.
Adrienne G.
Place rating: 5 San Francisco, CA
This is the 5th Liverpool Biennial, celebrating modern art on an International scale Throughout the streets of Liverpool, artists’ instillations can be seen in a myriad of situations ranging from abandoned factories, city parks, bombed out churches, down to the Tate Museum All media varieties from film, to paintings, to models, to light sculptures, etc… it’s all fair game & it’s all a spectacular sight to behold! Just some of the exhibits we enjoyed in the 2008MADEUP included: * An enormous Spider’s Web, made of lights, connecting a block of buildings in the downtown area * Boxed-in room that is lined w/mirrors & lighted balls — the effect when the door is closed is just like Carl Sagan — you’re standing among billions & billions of stars * Yoko Ono designed the instillation in a beautiful bombed out church — whose perfect outer structure was a façade in the literal sense due to its vast destruction on the inside * City Park where Evergreen Trees rotated tilty-turny * The BEST, most astonishing instillation we saw was this«normal» building in the Downtown area that had a huge hunk cut out & placed on hydraulics — the cut-out piece then *rotated* w/in the building — AMAZING Exhibits will have you walking around Liverpool so there’s an added bonus of seeing the beautiful city itself, up close & personal. Nicely laid out maps from the Welcome Center will easily guide you through all the areas of interest & they also commission nighttime activities throughout the 2-month run… so there’s a lot to see & a lot to do! Every 2 years from September through November — most exhibits are FREE Mark your calendars for 2010! Don’t miss it!