Homotopia, the UK’s leading queer arts and culture festival, is proud to announce it has secured Liverpool John Moores University as the major sponsor and partner for 2013.
Homotopia Director Gary Everett explained how this partnership had come about:
“This is a truly exciting and dynamic collaboration for this, our tenth anniversary year. We have been working alongside the Schools of Art and Law and the Special Collections and Archives department on this year’s programme of talks and exhibitions. Their academic input has been invaluable. We hope this association at a corporate level will offer students engagement opportunities to gain experience whilst offering the festival practical support in key areas.”
LJMU Vice-Chancellor Professor Nigel Weatherill added:
“As a modern civic university, it’s our goal to increase opportunities for advancement and positive change not just for our students but for Liverpool and our local communities. The partnership with Homotopia delivers a wide range of benefits for our students and demonstrates our commitment to supporting one of the city’s most exciting cultural festivals.”
LJMU is the second highest ranking university in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index and is committed to offering its students unique and invaluable work experience across the broadest range of cultural practice.
Thanks to this partnership students will be employed as marketing and design interns and taking part in drama workshops, legal debates and master classes. One exceptional student will be employed to manage and curate three exhibitions, two of which will feature materials directly sourced from LJMU’s Special Collections and Archives Department.
Val Stevenson, Head of Academic Services at LJMU said:
“The true value of our archives is in the imagination and vision embodied in each of the collections. That’s why it’s fantastic that we will be able to showcase some of them as part of the Homotopia Festival and inspire visitors with some of the wonderful images we hold.”