For Made on Merseyside 2, Kirkby Gallery have commissioned a new documentary about the making of Letter to Brezhnev, one of the most enduring films ever made in the city. There’s a lot more to see in this eclectic exhibition of Liverpool’s production past, but this is an incredibly significant film, charting both the social history of the city and the impact of the making of the film on its makers.
In 1985 when the film premiered, it did so on this site. Back then, it was called The Kirkby Suite, a health centre and the council’s offices.
The intention was to reflect the making and context of the film. The impact, which endures, was to prove that these sorts of events could bring relevance and positivity to places that required it.
That the building still stands (with a few shiny, colourful, adornments to hide its age) is testament to the importance of cultural space in places like Kirkby.
Today, the library and gallery building is the beating heart of the village. If you arrive by train, it’s your first stop. If you drive, it’s your destination and respite from the high street.
As a Knowsley resident, I can say with confidence that retaining these spaces, and building on them, is essential. In recent years, its sites like Shakespeare North that have breathed new life into Prescot. Make, making things happen in Huyton. It’s not enough, but its moving in the right direction, where the council is recognising and acting on the need for culture to improve not just opportunities, but pride of place.
Made on Merseyside 2 charts those moments that have created pride of place by using significant cultural productions as benchmarks.
The End, the 80s magazine run by Peter Hooton (The Farm) sort of fell out of a need for representation when Tate + Lyle closed down in 1981. The magazine ran alongside countless others, but was probably the most vocal critic of ununionized action, and most vocal celebrant for working class Liverpool.
The magazine came out of a lack of opportunities and the funnelling of young people into the Youth Opportunity Scheme.
The exhibition shares an extensive archive of the publication, with a few highlights in the form of satire from John Potter, The End’s most regular illustrator.
As a (fairly) local visitor to the show, but one with no memory of the time, it felt like an important archive, but also a trigger. There’s a sense from the gallery that they’re hoping to inspire the next generation of creative opportunities, and that hopefully they’re created by, rather than for, the people of Kirkby.
For anyone feeling like your town isn’t working, or wondering what you can do to make change, take some time to visit Kirkby Gallery for this one, because it’ll have the blueprint hidden somewhere in the archive.
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Made on Merseyside 2 is open at Kirkby Gallery until 28th November 2025
Words, Kathryn Wainwright