With just weeks left to visit the 10th edition of Liverpool Biennial, the largest festival of contemporary visual art in the UK, there is still plenty to enjoy and discover – including art in unusual places, performances, film screenings, family events and more.
Liverpool Biennial 2018 marks the festival’s 20th anniversary and finishes on 28 October. Spread across the entire city of Liverpool, more than 40 artists from 22 countries are represented in the programme, responding to the theme Beautiful world, where are you?
Contemporary art has not only taken over the city’s leading galleries and museums, it can also be found in the prison cells and courtroom of the magnificent St George’s Hall, inside the centuries-old Oratory and Blackburne House, as well as and in the open air on Liverpool Metrpolitan Cathedral’s plateau and the square by Liverpool Town Hall. Entry to all exhibitions is free.
The below are just a selection of highlights taking place over the final few weeks, including talks, curator tours, family days and artwork activations:
Experience a Sculptural Signature Facial – Blackburne House, every Friday & Saturday
Experience a unique facial treatment inside artist Taus Makhacheva’s sculptural art installation. Each one-to-one session includes surface assessment, deep cleaning and plastifying masks and lasts 30 minutes. During the treatment, stories of artworks that have disappeared throughout the history of art are told.
£25, advanced booking required
Curator Tour: RIBA North – 6 October, 3–4pm
Join RIBA North Director Suzy Jones for a tour of Mae-ling Lokko’s new commission – an architectural structure grown from agrowaste-fed mycelium (mushrooms) with people in Liverpool.
Free, booking recommended
Agnès Varda: Film Programme – FACT, every Wednesday
Over six decades, multi-award winning Agnès Varda has established herself at the vanguard of world cinema, directing over 50 films, shorts and documentaries. FACT and Picturehouse present weekly screenings of Varda’s works, and a personally curated set of films accompanying her own.
£12.20 Adult, £11.20 Retired/Student
Curator Tour: Bluecoat – 13 October, 3–4pm
Join Bryan Biggs, Artistic Director at Bluecoat, for an insightful introduction to the Liverpool Biennial 2018 works on display across the gallery – including sculpture, art installation and video.
Free, booking recommended
Activation of Chou Yu-Cheng’s Chemical Gilding, Keep Calm, Galvanise… – St George’s Hall, 14, 21 & 28 October, 2–3pm
The public is invited to activate Chou Yu-Cheng’s sculptural installation at St George’s Hall by throwing rocks at it over three days in October. The installation interrogates the act of protest. Made of shiny panels of galvanised steel, it alludes to department stores, consumer culture and elements of cheap housing, but also shows the results of human interaction.
Free, drop in
Reclaiming Beauty as a Public Good – Angela Nagle – Liverpool John Moores University’s Exhibition Research Lab, 18 October, 6.30–7.30pm
Beauty has too often been embraced on the right or rejected on the left as a reactionary and western centric ideal. Starting with conflicting approaches to beauty, from Roger Scruton to Susan Sontag, this talk by writer Angela Nagle will explore why beauty remains such a controversial aesthetic ideal.
Free, booking required
Family Event: The Big Draw – Tate Liverpool, 22–26 October, 1–4pm
Head to Tate Liverpool this October half-term and join in on the Big Draw. Explore the theme of play as you discover artworks in the Liverpool Biennial 2018 exhibitions. These creative artist-led workshops are suitable for all ages.
Free, drop in
Honouring Sacred Kin Relations in Contemporary Indigenous Art – Tate Liverpool, 24 October, 6–7pm
This talk which will explore Canadian visual culture and how this relates to the works in this year’s Liverpool Biennial. Art Historian Sherry Farrell Racette will position the artworks within the context of First Nations art in Canada and situate it with other current debates.
£5, booking required
Suki Seokyeong Kang: Land Sand Strand – Activation – Bluecoat, 26 October, 1–1.15pm
Suki Seokyeong Kang’s sculptural installation at Bluecoat will be activated through a series of movements inspired by the Korean Spring Oriole Dance. The activation involves three-minute choreographies carried out by performers.
Free, drop in
Liverpool Biennial Closing Party – 27 October, venue and times TBA
To celebrate the end of the 2018 festival, Liverpool Biennial will be holding an official closing party.
For further information on events and exhibitions please visit www.biennial.com/2018
Liverpool Biennial 2018
Beautiful world, where are you?
14 July – 28 October 2018
Venues and sites across Liverpool, free entry
Categories: News
