S.Q.U.A.T. Liverpool18 September – 28 November 2010
For the Liverpool Biennial Festival of Contemporary Art, 2010, No Longer Empty and The Art Organisation, will be collaborating to curate the exhibition S.Q.U.A.T. Liverpool. This will be one of 6 exhibition platforms running concurrently with the main Touched International Exhibition.
Social Questioning Using Art Today (S.Q.U.A.T) will take place in multiple locations throughout the Rope Walks district of Liverpool L1. The exhibition examines the dynamic transformation of urban environments using the regeneration of empty commercial spaces by artistic communities.
No Longer Empty (N.L.E.) is a non-profit organization based in New York City whose mission is to introduce art to a wider public by temporarily transforming vacant spaces. N.L.E. works with internationally recognized curators to feature established artists alongside lesser known or new artists, uniting the quality of the established art world, the timeliness and vitality of the alternative art scene, and the values of grass roots community development. An alternative to museums, galleries and conventional public art, No Longer Empty shifts the paradigm of how art is experienced, and ultimately, whom art is for. See N.L.E. exhibition listing details here
The Art Organisation (T.A.O.), currently in it’s 10th year as a self-funded autonomous arts body with a nationwide presence, has evolved a process that helps to create self sustained micro-economies run by artists such as cafés, Co-op stores, performance venues, art and recording studios, often incorporating workshop and exhibition spaces. Concerned with the regeneration of empty properties, The Art Organisation believes in the creation of physical networks though sharing skills and knowledge in order to grow communities that have an ethos of collaboration, social regeneration and imaginative ‘up-cycling’ at their core. See T.A.O. exhibition listing details here
Both T.A.O. and N.L.E. share a common interest in the creative artistic use of empty spaces, which are all generously donated rent-free by local landlords. In their own ways, each represent a shifting mentality currently occurring at many levels across the art world and commercial industries.
See also the S.Q.U.A.T Liverpool website