Art in Liverpool is twenty years old this month. Twenty.
September 12th, 2004, Ian Jackson moved a ton of stuff over from a Liverpool Biennial fan blog, onto an early WordPress website and called it artinliverpool. Thankfully, WordPress didn’t have “Welcome to the World” as its default opening post back then, which means that the first post on Art in Liverpool is actually really simple to identify.
It was a link to Liverpool Biennial’s 2004 festival map. At the time, that meant it was a link to everything in the city that autumn (Liverpool Biennial had four strands back then; International, Independent, John Moores Painting Prize, New Contemporaries. They’ve all since split, but the Independents and International continue working alongside each other).
2004 was also a key moment for Liverpool, with A Foundation (the building now houses Camp + Furnace) proving the power that art could have on city development, regardless of public sector approval.
And not long after its launch, Art in Liverpool was noted not just for being one of the ten most popular blogs in the world, but noted as one of the most significant arts resources in the UK. It got that recognition because Ian and Minako Jackson threw themselves into an art world at every level. They recognised and promoted the work of artists and collectives with exhibitions at Tate Liverpool and Domino Gallery with equal energy.
Four years later, Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture. In the decision notes and feedback, Art in Liverpool, Independents Biennial, Liverpool Biennial, Tate Liverpool and Creamfields were cited as representing a true diversity of culture, but it was Art in Liverpool and Independents Biennial that set Liverpool apart from other cities, because they proved to the world that culture was in the DNA of normal people all over the city – not limited to the massive public programmes and national galleries.
If I sound big headed, I’ll pause to clarify that I had no part of Art in Liverpool back then, other than as a kid, growing up in a city that made me feel like I could actually have a career in the arts, obsessively looking for the next thing to see. I’m incredibly proud to lead Art in Liverpool now, and still humbled, eight years on, that its founders put their trust in me to continue their legacy.
When I moved back to Liverpool in 2014, I was desperately looking for an outlet to share my writing, so I volunteered for Ian and Minako, trying (and usually failing) to see and write about every exhibition in Merseyside, every week, for two years. I still try (and fail) to do that, with Kathy by my side, and Laura’s support in rounding up what we do.
Art in Liverpool has had a huge impact on my life, but I’m not blind to the impact its had on Merseyside either.
Run mostly in a voluntary capacity for the last twenty years, there have been times when it’s felt like there’s been an Art in Liverpool-shaped gap to fill, particularly post-pandemic when we took a few years to recover properly. But we’re always here, somewhere, trying to do what we were set up to do:
Tell the world about art in Merseyside, by every artist, in every gallery, with equal energy behind it all.
Occasionally, we get emails from readers asking if they can write for us or try something out, and the answer is nearly always yes.
If you’re remotely interested in being part of the next twenty years, note that we’re a penniless group of disorganised fools, but that we’d love to hear from you. If you’ve got writing to share, or ideas to explore, we’re here for anything you want to publish about visual art in (on? no one’s ever given me a straight answer) Merseyside.
And for artists, whatever level you’re at. Remember that the purpose of Art in Liverpool is to support you, promote you, and tell the world about what you’re doing. Anish Kapoor might have an installation at Liverpool Cathedral, but Karema Munssar’s Al-Mayida is free to enter at Birkenhead Central Library until 5th September.
The rest of this issue is supposed to be a normal issue, but we’re feeling pretty nostalgic, so apologies if we dip in and out of reflections on the last twenty years.
Art in Liverpool, est. 2004