“In the 1950s, the merchant seamen working on the cruise liners sailing from Liverpool to New York, mostly as cooks and waiters, became known as Cunard Yanks. The Cunard Yanks saw themselves as fugitives from bombed-out austerity Britain. America represented liberation. They were entranced by the music they discovered there – Doo-wop, Soul, Rhythm & Blues – and hung out at jazz clubs where they heard Count Basie, Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie.” Taken from Vertigo Magazine
Highlights include an exclusively commissioned sculpture by Mike Badger (The La’s) and original paintings by Horace Panter (The Specials). The exhibition also features work by acclaimed artists Dudley Edwards, Pete McKee, Low Coneyand The Studio of Ezra. A selection of original paintings, print-making and sculpture will be complemented by a range of historical and documentary photography, dating from the 1940s to the early 90s.
The exhibition precedes a weekend long celebration at Sefton Park’s Palm House featuring seminal DJs Greg Wilson and Les Spaine. Full details will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information please visit www.nextstopnewyork.org.
Yaw Owusu, LIMF Curator comments, “I am really pleased with the addition and announcement of this element of Liverpool, Next Stop New York. Like music, art really captures the zeitgeist and adds a personal touch to any retrospect and it seems really fitting that this commission includes visual art too.”
LIMF is an inherently different festival representing the latest chapter of an ever-evolving global music city. Presenting its most ambitious and vibrant programme to date, Liverpool welcomes artists, creatives and music-lovers for a celebration like no other and one not to be missed. The five-day programme will encompass Commissions, Partnerships, the LIMF Academy and the grand finale, LIMF Summer Jam, and will take place over several iconic Liverpool venues including Sefton Park. The programme will continue to cement Liverpool International Music Festival as the must-visit musical event of the summer.