Liverpool is recognised as one of the leading major outdoor events and cultural destinations within the UK. During 2021 cultural events and arts activities were significantly impacted. A creative and innovative way forward was required and Culture Liverpool continued to successfully deliver a series of digital, outdoor and Covid safe events and activities for the Liverpool City Region.
Chinese New Year
This year the format of Chinese New Year (CNY) changed dramatically to take into consideration Covid restrictions. Not able to take place in Chinatown as usual, Culture Liverpool worked closely with the Liverpool Chinese Business Association and the CNY Committee to ensure that as many of the traditional elements were presented in a safe way – digitally and online.
Working with local arts and community organisations over 38 online happenings including dance, music, calligraphy, painting, Chinese rap, workshops, performances, screenings and demonstrations were created – most of which were new commissions, designed by Illuminos, Pagoda Arts, VIP Puppets and Movema.
Enhancing this, lanterns were installed in Chinatown and partners and venues across the city region were encouraged to light their buildings red as a visible acknowledgment of the festival and Liverpool’s Chinese community.
As an additional aspect to Chinese New Year 2021, Writing on the Wall in partnership with Pagoda Arts responded to the call for artists from the CREART Cities Network to collaborate with artists based in another CREART city to design and create/install a site-specific mural within Chinatown at Great George Square. The project has since gone on to be extended to cover both sides of the wall as a result of further funding from Merseyside Police.
Liverpool Together
On Tuesday 23 March, the city staged Liverpool Together, an emotive event exactly one year on since the start of the first lockdown in England.
Working in partnership with BBC Radio Merseyside, Liverpool City Council’s award-winning Culture Liverpool team curated the event to reflect on 2020 as well as to look to the future – celebrating the resilience and solidarity of the city.
Streamed and broadcast online, poetry, readings, films and first-person accounts reflected on those who lost their lives to Covid-19, highlighted the challenges faced by every community during the pandemic and shined a light on the incredible spirit people showed in dealing with unprecedented adversity.
The day featured performances from writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce, poet Dorcas Seb and singer songwriter Amber Jay, as well as contributions from frontline workers and members of the public. In the evening, civic buildings were lit up yellow ahead of the River of Light Trail which illuminated the waterfront as part of the nation’s ‘beacon of remembrance’.
Let There Be Light
For fourteen nights, from Tuesday 23 March to Monday 5 April, city residents were invited to experience the River of Light Trail with covid-safe measures in place across a 2km walking loop.
Bringing together eleven stunning audio and visual installations by world renown artists, the trail comprised Ursula Lassos The Moon, Light a Wish, Neighbourhood, Futures, From Here, Exponential, End Over End, Talking Heads, Rainbow Bridge, All In The Balance, Absorbed By Light.
The River of Light Trail 2021 was a real statement – in that it was the first event residents could partake in to slowly and safely discover the city once again – welcoming 120,000 attendees.
Very Public Art
The last 18 months changed the way we thought about the places we live. It gave us a different lens through which we look at our houses, our streets and our city. Perhaps we have never felt more connected to the places that we live. Perhaps we have never felt so bored by them.
Very Public Art was a series of installations and activations across the summer designed to give a new energy to the familiar and a reason to explore our streets once again.
A series of brand new commissions landed in locations across Liverpool, each one a showcase for local communities and creatives to tell stories and disrupt the every day. Some created a reason to congregate and celebrate, to discover new places and to meet new people. Some were a chance for us to stop and think.
All of them were free, open air, safe, in the streets. Very Public Art included And These Birds Can Sing, Holiday Home, Cowshed and The Weaver Girl, Hope and MerseySounds.
Image Credit: Amy Heycock
Pilot Events
In April the Government announced details of pilot events to be held in Liverpool, as the city followed in the footsteps of Amsterdam and Barcelona by participating in a science-led research programme to reopen the cultural and business sectors.
The Events Research Programme (ERP) was used to provide key scientific data into how events for a range of audiences could be permitted to safely reopen as part of Step 4 of the roadmap out of lockdown. The review being crucial to how venues – from major sport stadiums to comedy clubs, theatres to live music spaces, wedding venues to conference centres – could operate.
The Liverpool pilots including Hot Water Comedy Club at M&S Bank Arena Auditorium, The Luna Cinema on the Waterfront, The Good Business Festival Presents: Change Business for Good at ACC Liverpool and Circus Club were undertaken to gather evidence associated with different settings and approaches to managing and mitigating transmission risk. The pilots explored how different approaches to social distancing, ventilation and test-on-entry protocols could ease opening and maximise participation, including the use of lateral flow tests.
Hosting four pilot events, a total of 13,258 people attended with the results showing no evidence of any substantial spread of the virus around the events. Most importantly COVID 19 infections remained low in Liverpool after the events.
Image Credit: Anthony Mooney
Statues Redressed
During the summer months, Sky Arts, Northern Town and Culture Liverpool took on the city’s statues, grappling with some of the issues around them. Calling on artists, designers and members of the community, the statues were given a fresh look by dressing the statues up or creating art around them. Some interventions where celebratory, others more confrontational – but as each one was gradually revealed to the public, it prompted audiences to look again, think again, and gauge how we feel about the statues that surround us.
In all 50 statues, taken over by 20 Artists, were revealed with the story of the project presented in a special broadcast on Sky Arts in October. At the same time the documentary was aired, Culture Liverpool presented an outdoor exhibition of the project too. The exhibition was situated on School Lane in Liverpool ONE for five weeks between October and November 2021.
Over 200,000 people engaged with the project and a further 50,000 tuned in to watch the show.
The purpose of statues is still very much an ongoing conversation, one which Liverpool is open to having. Culture Liverpool was subsequently invited to speak at the Palliser Lecture 2021 (led by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum & National Gallery) by Century Trust & Salzburg Global. Liverpool has set a national and international example of how the city engages with its history and indeed how it considers presenting its history in the future.
Imagineer Bridge
Over three days, Culture Liverpool in partnership with Imagineer hosted a series of free pop-up events and happenings, where a ‘Bridge’ became the setting for an extraordinary outdoor performance at ‘The Rezzy’, Breeze Hill Millennium Green.
Taking place between 5 – 7 August, crowds were delighted with gravity-defying circus acrobatics, dance, comedy, theatre and live music, all inspired by local people’s stories to create a thrilling and moving montage of the courage, compassion and humour needed to bridge a divide.
Image Credit: Andrew Moore
Without Walls
In July 2020 Liverpool City Council announced a £200,000 fund to support creative businesses and individuals who had been hardest hit by Covid-19. Following hundreds of applications, almost 50 cultural organisations and freelance artists were awarded funding to help bring the city’s streets to life once again with its world-famous cultural offer.
From live music, theatrics, dance, light installations, murals and photography to exhibitions and street animation a whole host of stunning performances took place in outdoor spaces during the months of August and September.
Due to the huge success of round one, an additional £100,000 fund was announced to support cultural organisations in delivering new outdoor festivals. Once again, a huge number of applications were received, and nine organisations were awarded with funding to help bring festival vibes back to the city!
Image Credit: Nick Mizen
Liverpool Cathedral Youth Violence Vigil
On Saturday 25 September Liverpool Cathedral hosted a special vigil to bring together family and friends of those who have been impacted by violent crimes. Featuring a series of live music performances by local talent Quinten Green and the Liverpool Signing Choir, the event also included a selection of speeches and poetry readings from local youth members. Guests were invited to light a candle and contribute to a book of condolence to share memories of their loved one.
Black History Month
Black History Month is one of the most prominent cultural celebrations of the year. In Liverpool a host of arts and cultural organisations, universities and businesses created an impressive programme for 2021 – showcasing the talent and vibrancy of the city’s black communities, and welcoming national and international artists, activists, historians, and commentators.
During October Mayor Joanne Anderson, the first black woman UK city mayor demonstrated history in the making; Blue Saint and a posse of WoW young writers took over Tate Liverpool, Professor Stephen Small ‘zoomed’ in from California, Betty Vandy and Nazeem brought culinary and musical flavours from West Africa, Lorraine Maher explored what it means to be Black and Irish; Malik Al Nasir shared his letters to Gil Scott Heron and Hip-Hop artist Nicky Blaze was 20 Stories High.
As well as a time to celebrate, Black History Month was a time for reflection. On the 40th anniversary of the 1981 Uprisings we explored the progress society has made towards true racial equality. With Kim Johnson, MP and activists from across UK inner cities, following the largest Black Lives Matter Protests outside of the US, we explored the next steps down the road of social justice towards a society in which children can see what they want to be – asking: really, how far have we come?
River of Light
Following the success of Let There Be Light in March, River of Light returned to the Liverpool Waterfront once again – with its now tried and tested Covid secure delivery model. From 22 October to 7 November the trail was the largest and most successful to date, featuring 12 large scale light and sound-based installations and welcoming over 150,000 people.
As part of the festival, we also celebrated Diwali on 4 November with the new commission ‘Liverpool Love of My Life’ from UK based artist Chila Kumari Burman. To enhance this, we worked with local Indian arts and cultural organisation Milapfest to programme a celebratory dance and music performance alongside the installation itself.
River of Light 2021 was part funded by Arts Council England, playing a crucial role in the city’s recovery post pandemic. The trail attracted tourists from all over the country, generating a wider economic impact for the city whilst activating spaces in the public realm in partnership with key city stakeholders.
Pokémon GO Safari Zone
Pokémon Go is an augmented reality video game, where players or ‘trainers’ (as they are commonly known) use mobile phones to locate virtual creatures, which appear in the player’s real-world location.
This global phenomenon landed in Liverpool’s Sefton Park over the weekend of 15-17 October and saw over 20,000 ‘trainers’ take part, enjoying the interactive game, special installations and meeting other players
The event was re-arranged following its postponement in 2020 and it was the first major Pokémon GO to place in the world since late 2019.
On Record
ON RECORD Merseyside, returned in 2021 for the second year running with a selection of brand new in-person, online and audio commissions looking at the impact of Black music on the city region’s communities over the past 70 years.
Running from Sunday 24 October to Sunday 7 November, live music performances, documentaries, walking tours, workshops, debates, and podcasts made up the thought-provoking programme.
ON RECORD 2021 also saw the launch of the first Liverpool City Region Black Music Action Group which will act as a voice for the sector. Chaired by singer-songwriter and vocal coach Jennifer John, the meeting took place on Monday 25 October.
Service of Remembrance
In what was the largest event of its kind outside London, Lord Mayor of Liverpool Cllr Mary Rasmussen led the City’s tribute to those brave women and men who had fought for their country. Cllr Rasmussen was joined by veterans, serving members of the armed forces, families of the fallen from recent conflicts, representatives from the Merseyside Royal British Legion, and other civic dignitaries at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. Over 6,000 people attended the service to pay their respects, and over 4,000 people joined the live stream and online activities.
Christmas Markets
The Christmas Market returned to St George’s Quarter, welcoming guests from 12 November until 23 December. Hugely popular, the market offered a wide selection of food and beverages, children’s fairground rides, an observation wheel, a giant slide and much more.
Image Credit: Stratus Imagery
Christmas on County Road
December saw County Road host a programme of Christmas activity, created in partnership with the County District Centre Regeneration Team, the CDC Stakeholder Group and local community partners. Kick starting the festivities was the installation of a 30ft lit Christmas tree at the junction of Carisbrook Road. The tree was officially unveiled by the Deputy Lord Mayor and Mayor of Liverpool at a small event, attended by pupils from Arnott St Mary Primary School who led an audience in singing carols. The tree surrounds were decorated with star garlands created in public art workshops and with pupils from Arnott St Mary’s Primary and young people from Walton Youth Project.
