Owing to various problems with Movable Type, my hosting services and serial comment spammers I have decided to move all my blogs into Typepad.
This will cause some disruption at first but will hopefully make life easier in the long term.

Please bookmark and subscribe to the RSS feeds at the new address

http://artinuk.typepad.com/liverpool/

The Biennial Blogs will be following soon.

Image courtesy 3XN / UNIFORM

Great news, this will be a fantastic building in a great location. Shame it won't open fully until 2010!

At the press conference there were a few items from the collection just to whet our appetites including this blue felt bedspread (below) from John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Montreal 'Bed-in for Peace' in room 1742 of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal in 1969. It was handmade by the local Montreal Hare Krishna Chapter and gifted to John and Yoko.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced an earmarked grant of £11.4m* to support the fit out of the Museum of Liverpool. This news, which comes as work started on site this month with an archaeological project, means that Liverpool will soon have a new world class museum dedicated to telling the story of this incredible city. This brings the total funds raised to over £50 million.

The Museum of Liverpool, with a budget of £65m, will be one of the world’s leading city history museums reflecting Liverpool’s global significance through its unique geography, history and culture.

Building on the incredible success of the Museum of Liverpool Life, the new museum will draw on National Museums Liverpool’s vast wealth of collections, many of which have never been on public display. As a vital part of the legacy of 2008, when Liverpool becomes European Capital of Culture, it will express Liverpool's confidence as a great 21st century European city.

The new national museum will be an exceptional learning and community resource as well as a high quality contemporary public building giving unprecedented access to over 10,000 objects from National Museums Liverpool’s collections. The family visitor attraction will provide 8,000 square metres of public space and will attract 750,000 visits a year.

Carole Souter, Director of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: ‘The Museum of Liverpool will provide a particularly exciting new opportunity for people to learn more about the city and the significant role it plays in British and world history. We’re delighted to be able to support this ambitious project which will bring the city’s complex story to life, particularly as this year Liverpool is celebrating the 800th-anniversary of its founding charter.’

David Fleming, Director of National Museums Liverpool said: ‘The Heritage Lottery Fund earmarked grant means this new museum will be produced to the highest quality enabling an incredible array of objects and exhibits to go on display for the first time.
The museum, which will open in 2010, will attract people from far and wide, and will be a brilliant learning and recreational resource for the local community and visitors alike. Anyone interested in the history of this great city can look forward to a feast of displays and activities, and admission will be free of charge. I would like to thank the Heritage Lottery Fund and also extend my thanks to the many people who have shown support for the project, including our other funders.’

Content
The museum will focus on four main themes: Port City, Global City, People’s City and Creative City.

Port City will explore how Liverpool created its own success, transforming itself from a small tidal inlet into one of the world’s great ports. Key exhibits will include Lion, a 1838 steam locomotive which ran on the Liverpool – Manchester Railway and an original third class Overhead Railway carriage, suspended above the gallery at its working height.

Central to Global City will be The Liverpool Story, an unmissable show experience created by Liverpool film makers, writers and artists, using local voices to tell the rollercoaster story of Liverpool’s history.

People’s City will focus on the rich history of diversity in the city from the Stone Age settlers who left their imprints in the sand in Formby through to migrants and seafarers arriving to look for employment from all over the world. The gallery will include themes such as housing and health, opportunity and deprivation, social reform, religion and trade unionism and a key exhibit will be the model of the proposed Liverpool Catholic Cathedral by world-famous architect Edwin Lutyens.

Creative City will uncover the unique and creative character of Liverpool exploring why the city has produced such an amazing roll call of writers, performers, comedians and sportsmen. The gallery will include some unique Beatles objects, including the original stage on which John Lennon’s band, The Quarrymen, played in 1957. The story of the history of the Merseyside football clubs will explore how they have become such a cornerstone of the city’s identity and a special immersive experience in the gallery will capture the excitement, passion and intensity of the game through the fans’ eyes.

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/

The Loft Space is a temporary gallery in a residential setting highlighting the theme 'When the city speaks'. The space in the residential setting itself is being renovated so with each exhibition changes and redevelopment are evident. Jo Derbyshire is the curator and Andrew Taylor is the resident poet in the space who will write about each event.

Those interested in exhibiting whether it be visual art, poetry or performance should contact Jo Derbyshire on 07946353251 or email jo@joderbyshire.co.uk

Opening 28th January 1pm-4pm those interested in attending should contact Jo Derbyshire

28th Jan - 3rd Feb 2007
The Loft Space

On the waterfront - Irene McLoughlin

Mcloughlin has worked on the waterfront all her life. In the 1970's she worked on the ferry's between Liverpool and Belfast and currently works in an office setting on the waterfront. Mcloughlin has included personal photographs from the 1970's to date in this exhibition. The waterfront setting whether it be Liverpool, Belfast, Scotland, Dover or abroad has always been something that Mcloughlin is drawn too. The waterfront being a gateway to discovery for the artist.

Featuring work by George Lund, Jo Derbyshire, Rob Davies, Jazamin Sinclair, Carolyn Sinclair, Karen Henley, June Rose H, Andrew Taylor

The blog stopped working again all day today.
Seems the server can't cope with all the spam commenters which plague the site.

The comments never get published because they have to be verified by me first and of course I just delete them.

Doesn't stop them doing it though so there were nearly 400 processes running under my account bringing the server to its knees and my hosting service were not pleased.

All I can do for now is turn off commenting completely until I find a better solution (if there is one)
I hope that fixes it, its ok now, as you can see but for how long?

I've wasted the past 3 days on this problem so there's lots to catch up on.

This Sunday is your last chance to see Stranded, Heather Ackroyd & Dan Harvey's 6-metre long Minke whale skeleton at the Conservation Centre.

After retrieving a whale carcass from Skegness last year, Ackroyd & Harvey applied a special process to the clean bones that slowly produced a covering of delicate, iridescent alum crystals.

Alex Hartley's Nymark (Undiscovered Island) follows in the footsteps of the early explorers with a topographically inspired photographic installation of a 'new' island he discovered and named in the Arctic.

Gautier Deblonde's photographs of Rachel Whiteread's Embankment show her impressive installation in Tate Modern's cavernous Turbine Hall that was influenced by her experience of the High Arctic.

Cape Farewell
Art and Climate Change
National Conservation Centre
16 September 2006 - 28 January 2007

 
Hooray, the blog is fixed. After more than a day of agony, technical support seem to have got it sorted.
Apologies for the disruption to service hopefully normal service is now resumed.

So, anyway, this morning I had a close up look at the model for the original Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral designed by Edwin Lutyens. The model was originally built between 1931 and 1934 and has taken several years to be restored to something like its original state.

Its massive, as indeed the cathedral would have been if completed, it would have been twice the size of St Pauls and much taller that St Peters.

The Walker Art Gallery exhibition called The Cathedral That Never Was: Lutyens’ design for Liverpool features the huge model – one of the world’s great model buildings – plus related exhibits. It runs from 27 January to 22 April 2007. This is the first opportunity to see the model fully restored with Lutyens’ breathtaking interior.

Construction work on the full-sized cathedral started in 1933. Only the crypt of the vast building - rivalling St Peter’s in Rome - was completed before post war austerity and a shortage of funds stopped work. Building estimates rose from £3 million to £27 million.

The planned cathedral would have been built from pinkish-brown brick relieved by bands of silver-grey granite. The breathtaking edifice would have been crowned with an enormous 510 ft high dome – 60 ft higher than St Peter’s and more than twice the height of St Paul’s in London (250 ft). Instead, the present modernistic concrete Cathedral of Christ the King was opened on the Brownlow Hill site in 1967.

Conservators at the National Conservation Centre in Liverpool worked between 1992 and 2005 restoring the wood, plaster and metal model. The magnificent construction is 11ft 9 inches wide, 17ft long and 12ft 6 inches high. The £500,000 project was supported by a major grant of £268,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as contributions from many individuals. The model is on display in the Year of Heritage, Liverpool’s 800th anniversary, and is one of several exhibitions exploring the city’s history.

Chris Moseley, head of models conservation who led the project team, says: “The model is the last of a long tradition of wooden cathedral models. Our craftsmen and women had to successfully re-discover lost techniques to breathe new life into this incredible example of the model-makers’ art.”

The display is open to the public in the Walker Art Gallery from Saturday January 27 to April 22 2007

The Liverpool LEAP 07 Dance Festival opens on March 1st and we have a prize to give away to one member of the Liverpool Art forum.

Just join the forum and answer a simple question and you're in with a chance of winning a pass to 5 shows. This is worth £30.

Full details on the forum

Liverpool artwork of the day - Wednesday January 24 2007. 'Thomas' the Artist's Son by Anthony Brown.

Part of '100 Heads Thinking as One' currently at Capital Building (Liverpool Post & Echo) Old Hall Street.

This exhibition of about 75 of the 100 portraits by Anthony Brown was launched last night and is open to the public from today on the 1st and 2nd floors of the Post & Echo building.

It features many of Liverpool's great and good and quite a few were there last night including Mike McCartney, Dean Sullivan, Pauline Daniels, Drew Schofield, Kim Zadow, Roger Phillips etc.

Its here until February 28th then goes on a tour of the area including The Metropolitan Cathedral in March, the the Williamson in Birkenhead and St George's Hall in the summer when I think all 100 heads will be completed.

Feature in today's Daily Post

There will be a website www.100heads.co.uk but its not running yet

Hopefully, everyone knows by now that BOGOF = Buy One Get One Free.
And that's the deal here at Egg. You buy an artwork and you can have a second one by the same artist for free - you get the cheaper one free naturally.
Sounds like a good deal to me.

There's plenty to choose from, over 40 works, paintings, photographs, prints, mixed media and sculptures.

Artists include Jason Bold, Claire Freeman, Karen Henly. Marie McGowan, Alex Nicholson, Nathan Pendlebury, Jazamin Sinclair and several others.

B.O.G.O.F. at Eggspace curated by Headspace until January 29th 2007. Buy now while stocks last!

Off topic but may be of interest to some of you...

RETRO LARK LANE

RETRO AND VINTAGE CLOTHING 1920-1980
SALE!

Closing down end of Feb 2007 for an exciting new cultural development. Sale now on! Get down and grab some bargains opening times:
Thursday - Sunday 12 - 6pm
Retro will also have a stall at the Textile and Vintage fair St George's Hall 11th Feb 2007

Liverpool artwork of the day - Tuesday January 23 2007. 'Snowdrifts' (Pastel, 1904) by Frederick J Waugh 1861 - 1940 at The Walker Art Gallery

A seasonal picture for today. Ok its not actually snowing here in Liverpool but its cold enough.
I also love pastels and this is a great example of their use.
And I love playing with the zoomify feature which is available on this and many other pictures on the Walker website.

This work is featured in their excellent Winter Online exhibition

This snowy scene, which the American artist Waugh completed during a visit to Liverpool in 1904, is not a typical example of his work. He later became famous for his dramatic marine paintings.

The artist gave this work the alternative title 'The Silent Fen'.

The 'Pool Project, Liverpool - two jobs

The pool project is looking for people to carry out two specific areas of work:

1 Marketing and Communications
2 Support for Administration, IT and Events

pool project is an interdisciplinary project creatively communicating ideas about the urban environment with people from other disciplines such as ecologists, economists, historians, sociologists, engineers. The project became a registered charity in 2006.

We have been awarded development funding to:

a. improve our administration and IT systems
b. consolidate and develop our relationship with targeted audiences through improved communications and marketing.

We want to upgrade our website and publicity materials in consultation with targeted user groups, involving them in the development process by means of creative workshops and consultation. This will culminate in an exhibition to
relaunch the project. We also wish to create a web-based database to enhance communications.

Work must commence by the end of February 2007,

Fee £5,000

Interviews will be held in Liverpool on 5 February.

Subject to grant approval this could lead to more substantial consultation with hard to reach groups and development of an interactive site from May 2007 onwards.

Expressions of interest are invited, on receipt of which further information will be supplied.

pool project is also looking for a person with project management and public relations skills to help with administration, events organisation and publicity.
Energy, enthusiasm and flexibility will be needed for this role within a rapidly developing organisation. This will be for a three-month trial period in the first instance.
Please send a brief CV and expression of interest.

For more information and expressions of interest please email Jean Grant, Creative Director, at info@site-sight.demon.co.uk

http://www.poolproject.co.uk
http://www.urbanpicnic.org.uk

Just helped myself to this image from Banksy's shop. Everything's free, the only proviso being

"Please do not use this service to launch your own poster company or t-shirt line."

www.banksy.co.uk/shop

Programme Co-ordinator (Collaboration Programme)
£14,000-£17,000
FACT has a vacancy for a programme co-ordinator to support the work of the Collaboration Programme. An excellent communicator, this role is first point of contact for the artists and diverse communities we work with. Co-ordinating events, workshops and projects, you will have an interest in educational work and in contemporary art. Managing the day-today running and finances of a busy team, this is a role for someone who is highly organised, confident with financial systems with a friendly disposition.

FACT uses Mac, Microsoft Office packages.

We welcome applications from any individual regardless of ethnic origin, gender, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation or age. All applications will be considered on merit.

For more information or to request an application pack please contact:
Alan Smith. FACT, 88 Wood Street, Liverpool. L1 4DQ
Tel: 0151 707 4444
Email: recruitment@fact.co.uk
Closing date for applications: 17.00 Monday, 5 February 2007
Interviews in Liverpool: w/b Monday 12 February 2007

www.fact.co.uk

If you fancy a trip to Preston next week...

MA FINE ART INTERIM EXHIBITION 2007

Monday, January 29, - Friday, 9 February 2007 10.00 - 18.00

PRIVATE VIEW: 17.30 - 20.30 Wednesday 31st January

PR1 Gallery, Victoria Building,

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE, PRESTON

http://www.anotherplace.org/

The world's first international festival of original, new work seeks volunteers

Manchester International Festival is launching its volunteer programme and this is your chance to be part of the world's first international festival of original new work.

If you are interested in the arts, the cultural sector or just enthusiastic about helping out in an exciting environment, then the Festival team would like to hear from you.

Volunteering offers countless benefits and it is a great place to share skills and to learn new ways of working. It also offers the chance to meet people and to experience, first-hand, the build-up to productions, which will be world-premiered in Manchester. The volunteer programme is sponsored by one of the Festival’s top-tier sponsors United Utilities.

Manchester International Festival will run from June 28 to July 15, 2007 and then will be a biennial event, returning to the city in 2009.

Two pre-festival commissions have already taken place. Gorillaz performed their album Demon Days live at the Opera House in Manchester to international media acclaim in 2005. While 2006 saw The Schools' Festival Song, written by film composer Ennio Morricone and Manchester writer Nicholas Royle, premiered at the MEN Arena by bass baritone Nick Garrett and 8,000 school children form the Northwest.
The third pre-festival commission will see Manchester International Festival together with the Imperial War Museum co-commission Steve McQueen to create a response to the second Iraq War prior to the inaugural Festival in June this year. This new work will open to the public on 28 February 2007 in Manchester’s Central Library

The full programme will be announced in March, but to find out more visit
www.manchesterinternationalfestival.com
for all the details. You can also register online for the volunteer programme.

A Volunteers Coordinator takes up a post this week and United Utilities will work closely with them to lead the initiative. Further details about the ways people can get involved will be available in the coming months.

Anthony Brown • ‘100 Heads Thinking As One’

A Touring Exhibition Of Mixed Media Portraits
In Celebration Of Liverpool’s Here, Now & Future.

Opens at the Post & Echo Building, Old Hall Street. January 24 - February 28 2007 before moving on to other major Merseyside venues including St Georges Hall.
A new website will also be launched www.100heads.co.uk

This exhibition will prove to be not only Anthony’s most prolific and intense work to date, but also the largest exhibition of it’s kind ever staged in the North West of England and possibly the UK & Europe. It will be staged to mark the glorious 800 years Charter of Liverpool, the city of Anthony’s birth and one of his major inspirations.

Held throughout 2007, the exhibitions will lead into the celebratory year that sees Liverpool achieve its European Capital Of Culture 2008 status.

The portraits will be a multi layered process of news print (mainly Liverpool’s own The Liverpool Daily Post and the Liverpool Echo), magazine, book, written word & pictures and photograph, all becoming medium alongside traditional oil and acrylic paints and technique which build a uniquely personal portrait of the sitter – a ‘diary’ of their life & image, produced as collage/mixed media works.

The Exhibition subjects are all chosen for their unique contribution to Liverpool life, their individual strength and spirit. Some subjects have achieved celebrity, others have achieved tremendous success in their chosen field, but all have achieved a magnitude of spirit and passion for their city.

www.emso.co.uk

Artist Gary Sollars Presents 'Dollman's We Love Kitty Disco' on Walk the Plank Saturday 17 February 2007.

Gary Sollars manages and directs the events of 'Doll Man Disco', a concept born and evolved from his painting series of 'Doll Man'.
This is an independent production by Sollars.

Dollman's We love Kitty Disco
at
Walk the Plank Boat
(Albert Dock Complex), Liverpool, England.
on
Saturday 17 February 2007, 20.00 - 03.00 am

Tickets £7.99

For tickets please email
dollmandisco@hotmail.com
Further information available at
www.garysollars.co.uk

Acknowledgement: With appreciation to Sean Kenny (Graphic Designer) for his professional support of Dollman Events. For further information on Sean Kenny (Graphic Designer) seankennygraphics@hotmail.co.uk

Artist Jo Derbyshire in Loft Space Project

Review of ‘When the City Speaks – A Review’ by Artist Jo Derbyshire, Loft Space Project, Liverpool, England

Written by Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney, Photographs by Tony Knox. 20 January 2007

The ‘Loft Space’ project was unveiled today by Jo Derbyshire, an initiative conceived and curated by the artist. In the urban space of a house in Liverpool, once a location for the infamous ‘Bread’ television series in the late eighties and in the same area where ‘Boys from the Black Stuff’ and the ‘Liver Birds’ were filmed. A location synonymous with media, whether socio-political critique and satire on the community of the place.

This is the first in a series of exhibitions to be researched and developed by the artist with other artists to contribute and respond to the space and location of the house. The opening exhibition to this programme is a collection of Derbyshire’s recent and current art research and projects, titled ‘When the City Speaks – A Review’.

Derbyshire presents a collection of art, including her two large abstract expression pieces. These are faces with undertones of of Picasso-esque influence and similar the other, but in pastels, a fusion of mass of faces peering inwards and outwards of the two dimensional surface. They are described as psychoanalytical studies of form and tone and within the layers of each abstracted composition of the human face or head something different to be discovered and realised by each viewer’s perspectives.

Along the peripheral of the far wall is an installation of photographs and paintings. The photographs an anthology of visual records of generations gone before. There are mixed media paintings combined, which evolved from each live art intervention in different cities of ‘When the City Speaks’. This is project where audience participation determines the evolution of the art by contributing during the live art experience.

These canvases themselves become artefacts at the moment of intervention by the audience, but organic as they continue to the next urban and cultural space. Adjacent to these are a series of photographic images (documented by Tony Knox for Derbyshire) from previous incarnations of ‘When the City Speaks’. They present an archival record of the journey of the canvases in the installation and a visual understanding to the next stage of development in the context of this current project in the ‘Loft Space’.

The concept of the ‘Loft Space’ and Derbyshire’s interest in urban culture takes the concept of spatiality and re-addressed the urban to the institutional constructs where the art and visual dialogue become archive and artefact.

This is an immensely innovative project conceived by Derbyshire and in this first exhibition provides a thought provoking platform to the concepts of display, aesthetic form and function and art objects. I would strongly recommend a viewing to this exhibition, which runs for a week, 21January 2007 - 27 January 2007. This is by appointment only.
For further information or viewing contact the artist at aprilskies1204@aol.com or 07946353251. You can view more art of Derbyshire at www.joderbyshire.co.uk

The programme for the ‘Loft Space’ continues with the following artists to explore diverse creative insights and interpretation of the space.

28 January 2007 - 3 February 2007
On The Waterfront by Irene McLoughlin.

04 February 2007 - 10 February 2007
Poetry Installation by Andrew Taylor.

11February 2007 - 17 February 2007
Pastel Series by Peter Worthington.

18 February 2007 - 24 February 2007
The Place where we live -Andrew Hodge and June Rose H.

25 February 2007 - 03 March 2007
Jazamin Sinclair and Karen Henley.

4 March 2007 - 10 March 2007
City, Regeneration, Redevelopment and Waste, ACEO's.

11March 2007- 18 March 2007
Nietzsche's Urbanised Icon by Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney and Tony Knox.

25 March 2007 - 31 March 2007
Book Launch Preview.

From Culturepool

What
Private viewing of the work of Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk
Lars Tunbjörk first solo show in the UK portrays aspects of modern urban life, above all issues related to the spaces in which many of us spend most of our lives: the office and the home.

When
Thursday 8th February 2007
Meet Vinny & Luan at the OpenEyeGallery’s entrance @ 18.30 to receive invites.

Where
OpenEyeGallery
28-32 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4AQ.

Who
Lars Tunbjörk
The artist will be around to answer questions about his work. culturepool will get together afterwards for a chat, venue to be confirmed.

How
Invites are FREE to culturepool members.
No need to book. Just turn up at the OpenEyeGallery.

Liverpool artwork of the day - Monday January 22 2007. 'After Lunch' 1975 by Patrick Caulfield at Tate Liverpool

One of my favourite paintings by one of my favourite artists is here to remind you that this great collection display ends on February 4 2007. Don't miss it.

Also, this Wednesday January 24 2007 18-20.00 you can hear Marco Livingstone, author of Patrick Caulfield: Paintings (2005) discuss the paintings of Patrick Caulfield.

Livingstone has been writing about Caulfield for over 25 years and in 1981 selected work for Caulfield's first major painting retrospective at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

This talk will take place in the gallery space.
£6 (£5 concessions), booking required
£4 Tate Members
For tickets, call 0151 702 7400

Patrick Caulfield at Tate Liverpool

“The Vandals Stole the Handles”

At
11 Wolstenholme Square

On
Saturday 27th January 2007 , 18.00 til late

Live music
to include:

Dirtblonde, Mind of a Toy &

The Bitches of Psychedelia

The exhibition continues from
January 28 – February 11 2007 12 to 18.00
(closed Mon & Tue)

www.wolstenholmeprojects.org

Reminder that the deadline is January 31 2007

calling new moving image makers, directors, creative students and graduates

mtv and onedotzero have launched bloom - a competition to find the best up-and-coming moving image talent from around the world and to commission a series of one-minute-films that explore identity and community

See previous post

www.mtvonedotzero.com

FUTURESONIC 2007
10-12 May, Manchester UK

GET INVOLVED!
Futuresonic 2007 now invites submissions of projects to Futurevisual and to EVNTS.

FUTUREVISUAL - INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS
http://www.futuresonic.com/07/2007_submissions.html
Deadline: Thursday 15th February 2007

EVNTS - INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS
http://www.futuresonic.com/07/evnts.html
Deadline: Thursday 15th February 2007

More info...
FUTUREVISUAL
http://www.futuresonic.com/07/2007_submissions.html

Futuresonic invites submissions of projects at the cutting edge of immersive sound and image.

Futurevisual forms the centrepiece of Futuresonic Live at Futuresonic 2007 in Manchester/UK. Futurevisual will also be presented at a new festival launched during 2007 by Art Centre Nabi in Seoul/South Korea, and a selection of works presented at Futuresonic will be shown at arte. mov in Belo Horizonte/Brazil.

Futurevisual is a celebration of all things audiovisual, with a focus on audiovisual projects which emerge from, reference or are inspired by the transfusion of visual media and visual technologies within music culture, and the mixing of visual culture and music culture.

This will be a homage to the 40th anniversary of seminal multimedia events in 1967 which, like Futuresonic, came not from film but a collision of music and art worlds. At events such as The 12 Hour Technicolour Dream and Games For May, and the UFO club, London's psychedelic underground exploded into the daylight. These were at the beginning of a seminal year which saw a coming together of the worlds of music and visual art, a crossover between avant garde and popular music, and also the introduction of the Moog at Monterey.

Please note that in 2007 we are only asking for submissions of projects that can be presented without financial support from Futuresonic.

Deadline for submissions:
Thursday 15th February 2007

See website for full details.
EVNTS 2007
http://www.futuresonic.com/07/evnts.html

Futuresonic invites anyone working in music or media arts to take part in EVNTS 2007, a city-wide programme of affiliated events, with the EVNT Competition offering financial support for a limited number of events.

EVNTS is a strand of the Futuresonic festival which enables artist groups and event organisers to participate in the festival. All participating events are included in the festival publicity, on the festival website, and in festival press releases. Since its introduction in 2005, EVNTS has grown into a community of people who each year return to give the festival an extra edge.

Awards of GBP 1,000 and GBP 250 are available for people to stage an event as a part of EVNTS via the EVNT Competition. Open to any programmer, curator, promoter, label or artist group anywhere in the world, with the focus on ground breaking and new events as well as one-off or adventurous events by established promoters. Proposals will be judged by an independent panel of music, arts and industry figures.

Deadline for submissions:
Thursday 15th February 2007

See website for full details.
http://www.futuresonic.com/07/get_involved/

The first show at the new Loft Space opens on Sunday January 21 13-15.00

contact: Jo Derbyshire aprilskies1204@aol.com
tel 07946353251

21st - 27th January 2007
When the City Speaks - A review - Jo Derbyshire
featuring Tony Knox Andrew Hodge Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney June Rose H Laura Baxter Agata Alcaniz Peter Worthington Alison Bazely
A review of the project when the city speaks featuring work shown at the Liverpool Biennial Independents including a narration of the project read by Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney

'Maypole On The Mersey' (True Story)

It may look like an easy thing to do - maypole dancing in the Mersey - but if you think about it there are many considerations and hazards; wind speed and direction, the height of the pole and the length of the ribbons.

Will it be high or low tide? Will there be squabbles over which ferry gets what colour ribbon? Will there be full radio contact maintained between all ferries? Will the captains remember the dance sequences? Will the ships' horns be in tune and keep to the rhythm?

The rehearsals hadn't gone too well - 'a good sign', some said, 'because that means they'll get it right on the day'.

On the first of May, in bright sunshine, the Iris, Daffodil, Woodchurch, Bluebell, Tulip, Snowdrop, Primrose, Waterlilly, Shamrock, Rose, Pansy and Crocus danced all afternoon until their propellers ached.

The latest in Chris Vine's series of Liverpool-based prints will be unveiled at Slaughterhouse73 next Friday evening, January 26 2007 18.00 - 21.00

See Alex Corina's new Art Works website: www.alexcorina.com

From artist Will Curwen. This is also on the Independents Biennial Forum

Dear Reader

I am one of the artists who exhibited work in the MuseumMan show at 25 Parliament Street (aka - The Buddleia Building). The space we were allocated was essentially derelict before the keys were handed over to Adam Nankervis and Simon Bendi who did a sterling job of making a temporary exhibition space for our show.

Unfortunately, the 25 Parliament Street roof space area was/is a pigeon graveyard, and over the years it appears that the dust from pigeon droppings, and the faeces left by mites that feed upon flakes of pigeon skin - has infiltrated the entire building. Even though walls were given a rough coat of emulsion paint, there was a tremendous amount of dust and dirt thrown up by frantic activity to get the exhibition space up and running.

Sanitation was/is appalling with the whole building infested with flies - everywhere was flyblown. The building is a former warehouse and nobody seems to know with any real certainty what was originally stored in it.

Everyone I spoke to who spent any amount of time in the building all complained of either feeling under parr or quite ill. As an exhibiting artist, I would visit twice a week for two or three hours at a time for what turned to be nearly twelve weeks. That is approximately seventy hours of progressive exposure to a very sick building. Every visit made me feel ill afterwards. As a borderline asthmatic, this has eventually triggered fullblown asthma, and my health over the last four months has not been good.

My medical symptoms are:- a persistent dry hacking cough that convulses the whole body, breathlessness, nightsweats, physical lethargy and a lack of concentration. These symptoms are consistent with a known condition called 'Pigeon Lung'. I am now on a course of very strong antihistamines and will have to use an asthmatic inhaler for at least another month. Thankfully, I am making a slow but consistent recovery.

By rights, all the walls, floors and ceilings of the building should have been sprayed with clear varnish to seal this disgusting muck in BEFORE the keys were handed over. This never happened, and I for for one are suffering
the consequences. This is an appalling lack of consideration for basic health and safety. The contrast between Greenland Street over the road, with its immaculately constructed and spotlessly clean toilets, could not have
been greater.

If anyone involved with 25 Parliament Street is reading this and are still experiencing any breathing difficulties, then I strongly advise you to go and see your doctor immediately.

Sincerely

William Curwen

Liverpool Artwork of the day - Friday January 19 2007. Teapot by Virginia Graham at Bluecoat Display Centre

We are big tea drinkers here at artinliverpool.com but still seems odd to feature two teapots as artworks of the day this month.
This is by Virginia Graham and is one of several by various artists that will be on show at the Bluecoat Display Centre in College Lane from tomorrow Saturday January 20 to February 17 2007. We'll be going to the viewing at 17.30 tonight, maybe we'll be offered a cup of tea instead of the usual wine.
Don't suppose they'll allow us to use these pots though. Just last night we were in Kimos (Mt. Pleasant) drinking Moroccan mint tea poured from a cute little silver pot into small glasses, very nice.

The blurb...
The first new exhibition from Bluecoat Display Centre for 2007 brings together a varied collection of designers and crafts people who have created the perfect accompaniments to any mad hatters tea party. The traditional, unusual and sometimes even eccentric come together in this group show which celebrates the decorative possibilities of functional and non-functional objects, designed for the pleasure of relaxing with your favourite hot drink.

Renowned names, including John Leach, are orchestrated alongside more recent arrivals on the creative scene such as Jacob van der Beugel, winner of an Elle Decoration Future Classic Award, and Sun Kim who has most recently been featured in Ceramic Review for her inventive pottery. Virginia Graham, whose teapots (pictured above) and vessels will feature, has said she makes teapots and tea services because they are the ultimate in collectible ceramics; they are also ordinary objects that are instantly recognizable to the onlooker.

This exhibition celebrates the Chinese New Year and we hope to organise a traditional tea ceremony during the exhibition which will be free to anyone wishing to attend, dates and time will be confirmed

from biennial.com...

Job Opportunity

18/01/07
Programme Manager, Learning and Inclusion
c. £30k depending on experience; two year renewable contract.

Liverpool Biennial is a charitable agency engaging art with people and place, and promotes the UK’s festival of international contemporary visual art.

This key post plans, manages and represents the Biennial’s innovative programme in commissioning creative artists, authors and designers to work with target education and community groups and develop audiences.

Application packs available to download or email jobs@biennial.com
Closing date: 12 February 2007 Interviews week of 19 February 2007

The 'Christmas' group show at Domino Gallery in the Green Fish Cafe continues into February 2007

Featuring works from Neil Robertson, Dave Powell (including his 'water' painting pictured here), Claire Chinnery, Kieron Bawamia, Conal McAlorum, Alex Corina, Miriam Sakwa and Adrian Hill.

A good bright mix of media and styles at very reasonable prices. Very pleasing to look at as you eat your veggy food.

Still details to be confirmed and expanded but its great news that Greenland Street is, as promised, continuing on a permanent basis and not just for Biennials.

Watch this space for further news. The focus at present is on more construction work with things starting to open up in the Spring.

Liverpool’s new modern art centre announces 2007 programme

Greenland Street – Liverpool’s major new contemporary arts venue – will re-open in 2007 with an exciting programme of events focusing on the process and production of modern art.

Since its launch in September 2006, over 12,000 people have visited Greenland Street from across the world. The arts centre, which consists of three enormous former industrial buildings, was set up by James Moores through A Foundation to revitalize Liverpool’s contemporary art scene. Greenland Street focuses on developing new commissions and contributing towards a greater infrastructure for the visual arts within the city.

January- April 2007: ‘Construction’
Construction of Studio Spaces - to house Liverpool’s first contemporary Artists’ Residency Scheme. Local, regional and international artists will be able to work at Greenland Street in the purpose-built studio units. The Residency Programme is due to launch in April 2007.

Artists’ Bookshop – Greenland Street’s new bookshop will specialise in international publications and art periodicals. Based in the café area, it will provide a valuable resource to local artists.

Building Development – Work to extend access to The Furnace, The Blade Factory and The Coach Shed – the extensive buildings which make up Greenland Street – will continue.

May – August 2007: ‘Process and Production’
Lisa Cheung Residency – Working with Arts in Regeneration and Liverpool allotments, Lisa will develop a unique community based project which will culminate in a public feast for all to enjoy.

Major Artists’ Workshop – Ten Liverpool artists will work with fifteen international artists from Bangladesh, India, China and Brazil for two weeks. The public can see the results of artists making work in and around the building in an open day planned for the end of August.

Drawing School – The Princes Drawing School returns to Greenland Street after their successful project as part of Virtual Grizedale. They plan to host a series of drawing workshops and a drawing marathon. Open to all, the Drawing School are keen to involve as many people as possible with the aim to get Liverpool drawing!

Café events – Greenland Street’s café will re-open for a programme of evening talks, live music nights and film screenings.

Brand Outreach Project – students from Liverpool Community College will explore the branding of cities, in particular Liverpool. Drawing on archival graphics from the 1950s - when Liverpool was re-branded after the war - participants will come up with their own brand for the city with an exhibition in July at Greenland Street.

September – December 2007: ‘Exhibition’
Artist Film Season – a major new commission from arts and event agency, Artprojx showcasing some of the best new films produced by artists such as Mark Wallinger and Georgina Starr.

Architectural Commission: The search is on for the next architectural practice to create Greenland Street’s architectural roof commission. Details of this competition to be announced in February 2007 with the commission in place from September 2007 onwards.

Furnace Commission: American artist Catherine Sullivan initially trained as an actress and is best known for theatre and video work that explores performance and role-playing. Greenland Street have commissioned ‘Triangle of Need’ - her latest work consisting of a six screen film projection and live performance.

For details of Greenland Street’s programme visit www.afoundation.org.uk

SN005 - SOUNDNETWORK Meeting.
Egg Cafe, 16-18 Newington St, Liverpool, L1 4ED. Not far off Bold St.
FRIDAY, 19TH JANUARY 2007, 19:00

The fifth network meeting, and possibly the most important so far. We won't be presenting any work at this one but would like for anyone with an idea to bring it along. We are developing the programme for 2007-2008 and want to hear what you, the members, have in mind for your network. This is a continuation of SN004 in that sense, so those of you who were at that meeting we would love for you to make it to this one too.

It is also a chance to banter with other artists. You know, network.

http://soundnetwork.omweb.org/

Very happy to see that Liverpool School Of Art & Design Graphic Arts is featured in the latest issue of Computer Arts magazine (132 - Feb 2007)

Its not mentioned on their website so you'll have to try and take a look at a printed copy (£6).

This is my favourite mag and is good exposure for the course as well as the graduates featured.

They show the work form 3 of last years graduates with the Tutor's verdict (John Young, senior lecturer at JMU) and the Expert's verdict (Roddy Llewellyn, CA's senior art editor)

Featured students: Matt Barnes - www.thebattle.co.uk
Huw Huxley - www.myspace.com/huwhuxley112
Rich Wilson - it says www.blackmannequin.co.uk but that doesn't exist.

www.ljmu.ac.uk

The prize camera arrived this morning.
Its a Holga with the Absolut Lomo logo printed on the top.
As Lomos go its quite sophisticated with 4 flash colours and a long exposure function.

I hope we get a few entries soon, there's not much time you know!
Details

Liverpool Artwork of the day - Thursday January 18 2007. 'Dokos Triptych' by Pauline Keaney at Cornerstone

Pauline Keaney's solo exhibition 'Rocks etc...' curated by Editions Gallery opens at the Cornerstone, Hope University Gallery tonight at 18.00. Runs from January 19 to February 16 2007

Pauline Keaney was born in Liverpool and studied at the Slade School of Art before embarking on a career teaching that ran parallel with a successful series of international exhibitions of her work.
Pauline moved to the Greek island of Hydra nine years ago and the landscape and environment of the place has populated her work since then.

“I realised that the landscape of Hydra is essentially about rock and, indeed, Hydra itself is a huge rock. And so I paint rock and reflected rock. In rock I have found all the elements that can obsess an artist - Colour, Form, Light, Texture. In my rock paintings I have tried to use a painterly language to interpret all of these things. But ultimately it's paint on canvas and the surface of the canvas is everything. I hope my paintings are beautiful surfaces."
Pauline Keaney, 2005

A Closer Look - (Tate LIverpool Course / Workshop)
The Art of Jake and Dinos Chapman in Context
Led by Julie Robson and Judith Walsh
Tuesdays 23 January 2007 – 13 February 2007, 18.00–20.00

This short evening course looks at art historical and literary references in the work of Jake and Dinos Chapman from ethnography to Francesco Goya and the writings of Freud and Dante. The course consists of a mix of interactive slide lectures and discussion-based workshops in the galleries and will also include a day trip to London to see Jake and Dinos Chapman's work on view at Tate Britain.

Tate Liverpool
£60 (£45 concessions), booking required
£40 Tate Members
For tickets, call 0151 702 7400
LINK

Drawing Days at Tate Liverpool
Colour and the Human Figure
Wednesdays 17 January – 28 March 2007, 9.30-12.30 and 13.30-16.30

(started today, apologies for the late notice!)
Life drawing is an essential element of an artist's practice. Tate Liverpool is offering a unique opportunity for the public to take part in life drawing classes in the light filled space of the studio at the Gallery for a morning or afternoon session of drawing, or both.

Led by Rick Creed, Department of Contextual Studies, Liverpool School of Art and Design, Liverpool John Moores University.
Tate Liverpool
£20 (£15 concessions), booking required
£12 (Members) for full day. £10, £7.50 (concessions), £6 (members) for half day. Admission is free for Liverpool School of Art and Design Students. Materials included in price. Places strictly limited.
For tickets, call 0151 702 7400.
LINK

Volunteer Invigilators - Liverpool

Volunteer Invigilators required for a series of forthcoming exhibitions at '11 Wolstenholme Square' in Liverpool. See http://www.wolstenholmeprojects.org for information on previous exhibitions and details of the artists based at the space.

Invigilators are needed from 12.00 - 18.00, Wednesday to Sunday. The first of these shows will feature 10 artists from Nottingham and opens on the 26th Jan for 2 weeks. There are plans to run shows every 4 to 6 weeks.

Invigilating will provide the opportunity to get involved in a city centre project which featured 60 artists over the course of this years Liverpool Biennial.

Please send contact details and dates you are available to gordonculshaw@hotmail.com

Liverpool Artwork of the Day - Wednesday January 17 2007. The Black Moss, logo for juneau/projects/ at FACT

You see this hanging on the wall as you enter Gallery 2 upstairs at FACT. Inside we see an area set out for a rock band to perform - full drum kit, guitars, microphones etc. but no musicians. However, once the sensors detect the presence of an audience the music starts up. This along with photographs, costumes and logos is the result of juneau/projects/ working with two youth groups in Birmingham to create imaginary bands Ebony Angels and The Embers.

Also in Gallery 2 is 'Beneath the floorboards of the forest, empty space' which looks really interesting but is actually a painfully slow interactive text-based computer game. The whole space has a sort of Brazilian jungle effect with moss, mushrooms, plants and twigs everywhere including around the workstations.

In Gallery 1 is 'Jungle Jam' which is the latest musical experiment from Brazilian sound artist Chelpa Ferro, commissioned by FACT. The large gallery space is empty apart form a series of about 30 black and white plastic backs attached to small motors on the walls. These are activated by a computer at the far end of the room. At intervals, one, a few, several or all the bags will spin around at high-speed making a energetic rustling noise.

At first we thought the bags were activated by our moving around so we ran about wildly and it seemed to work but in fact the whole procedure is pre-programmed, a 10 minute repeating cycle. It all looks very simple but I found it interesting and fun.

In the Media Lounge is another commission by juneau/projects/ called 'Instincts are misleading (you shouldn't think what you're feeling'). The room devoted to wildlife, featuring animation, video and masses of hand-made creatures. It also includes music written by the artist. It was performed at the opening in December which we missed.
Visitors can make their own little creatures from a selection of bits and pieces which can be put on show and maybe included into the animation.

Look out for the pigeons dotted around the building during this exhibition which ends on Sunday Jan 21 2007

'Jungle Jam' by Chelpa Ferro and 'The Black Moss' by juneau/projects/ at FACT - December 8 2006 to January 21 2007

FACT
http://www.chelpaferro.com.br/
http://www.juneaurecords.co.uk/

Of course, this film was always destined to be a success as me and Minako are in it. We spent the whole of a hot summers day inside St George's Hall while they filmed a very short sequence of us pretending to enjoy the music. That half-second that we appear on screen really makes a difference I think.

A FILM commissioned by the Liverpool Culture Company and Biennial visual arts festival has been short-listed for a prestigious award.

Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy from desperate optimists, makers of the film, are now keeping their fingers firmly crossed for the announcement of the ‘Short Tiger’ awards as part of the Rotterdam International Film Festival. The shortlist consists of just 27 films selected from hundreds of submissions.

‘Daydream’, the 29-minute film was made to celebrate the work of the Creative Communities ‘Around the City in 80 Days’ programme, which consists of 80 projects in the neighbourhoods of Liverpool in 2005/6. The film was supported by Liverpool Biennial in 2006 plus the Liverpool Culture Company (supported by the Millennium Commission’s Urban Cultural Programme) and involved 150 local people.

Co-Director Joe Lawlor said: “The nominees are among the most impressive short films made from around the world and we are proud to announce that Daydream is part of this company.”

The story tells of a community of people who are all under going various forms of change, emotional or psychological, the scenes include a rehearsal in a village hall with a local youth orchestra; a rock band’s performance which brings about a strange misfortune, and a woman meeting for the very first time the stranger who found her abandoned as a baby at that very site. Meanwhile, three teenagers have lost their way in the woods, and after extensive attempts are underway to find them, they begin to reflect upon their situation and have their fortunes told by twins li