LONDON PRESS SERVICE INFORMS
European Culture Capital 2008 Unveils Exciting Programme
Liverpool has publicised the first glimpse of its fantastic European
Capital of Culture programme for 2008 – with a guarantee of even more exciting events to
come.
Consisting of 70 highlights – many of them free – Liverpool 08’s
initial programme features concerts, commissions, exhibitions, festivals and premieres
across all cultural genres, from public art, architecture, dance, fashion and film … to
literature, music, science, theatre and visual art.
The city will celebrate European and UK geniuses – from Anton
Chekhov, Le Corbusier, James Tissot and Gustav Klimt to Benjamin Britten and Shakespeare.
Further events will be unveiled throughout 2007.
The 2008 culture programme will also feature new work by acclaimed
artists such as Jyll Bradley, Ben Johnson, Michael Nyman, John Tavener and Richard Wilson
as well as performances by Vladimir Ashkenazy, Seamus Heaney, Akram Kahn, Philip Pullman
and Simon Rattle.
Revealed to coincide with the World Travel Market, the initial
Liverpool 08 highlights are a collaboration between the Liverpool Culture Company and
major cultural institutions, artists, performers and venues across Liverpool and
Mersey-side.
Liverpool 08 also involves partnerships with major national and
international institutions such as the BBC, the Tate gallery, the Royal Institute of
British Architects (RIBA) and the European Opera Centre. Liverpool has also devised a
“Cities On The Edge” programme to run until 2012, involving collaborations with
Bremen, Gdansk, Istanbul, Marseilles, Naples and the non-EU Capital of Culture 2008 –
Stavanger.
In a city already internationally renowned for its visual arts offer,
2008 will ensure that this reputation will grow even stronger. The 2007 Turner Prize at
Tate Liverpool – from October to January – is the first time this prestigious event
has been held outside London, heralding the beginnings of Liverpool’s 2008 preparations.
Dancing in the street: Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture 2008
programme promises to be packed with something for everyone.
The scale of the Liverpool 08 programme means many projects begin in a
few months. Starting in July 2007, National Museums Liverpool is to stage an 18-month
exhibition exploring the city’s 800-year history called A Magical History Tour.
A year-long programme of free street performances and public art has
been specially commissioned to transform all areas of the city into a gigantic canvas and
stage. The public art programme, arranged by the organisers of the Liverpool Biennial,
begins in January 2008 with a Winter Lights Festival to extend the festive season.
As an added feature of this city-wide celebration, a whole myriad of
venues are being employed and created for events, from bus-stops to cathedrals as well as
specially built pavilions for community performances.
A series of new venues will open in 2008 – such as the 10,000-seat
Liverpool Arena at Kings Dock in January, a gallery and museum at Liverpool University,
and a new Art & Design Academy at Liverpool John Moores University. And the UK’s
oldest arts centre – the Bluecoat – is to reopen.
Liverpool 08 boasts a wealth of innovative performances and premieres
including a new commission from Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist as well as the world premiere
of her first feature film at the FACT (Film, Art & Creative Technology) centre that
will also stage a film, video and new media festival in January. Liverpool’s communities
will also be celebrated throughout 2008 and in February a specially commissioned Lantern
Parade will celebrate the Chinese new year.
The support and involvement of the public was critical to the
successful bid and Liverpool has since developed a multi-million-pound creative
communities programme. In 2008, there will be projects as diverse as the animation of
doctors’ surgeries to one-off street dances to ensure Capital of Culture festivities
reach every corner of the city.
With public participation being a major element of Liverpool 08, plans
are in place to get the city dancing in readiness for two spectacular Viennese-style balls
in April, with music played by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. These concerts
will be staged to coincide with the UK’s first comprehensive exhibition of work by the
legendary Austrian artist Gustav Klimt at Tate Liverpool – also the inspiration for a
wider series of concerts by the Liverpool Philharmonic orchestra.
From April to July 2008, the Walker Art Gallery is to host a
blockbuster exhibition – called Monet to Hopper, the Artist and the Railway – also
featuring work by painters such as Pissaro and Van Gogh.
The new Shipping Lines Literary Festival, by Liverpool University, will
feature readings by giants of the written word including Seamus Heaney, Doris Lessing and
Philip Pullman.
As summer begins, Liverpool Cathedral will stage Benjamin Britten’s
War Requiem in June, featuring Cologne Cathedral Choir, the choirs of Liverpool’s two
cathedrals with the Liverpool Phil and Choir. The Liverpool Phil will be commissioning a
range of music and song from leading composers. And members of the public will also have
an opportunity to contribute to the Liverpool Song Book.
The city is one of the world’s undisputed music capitals and this
will be celebrated at the Liverpool Sound – a once-in-a-lifetime concert, featuring
world-famous artists that will be beamed live across the globe from the city’s historic
waterfront. And from July, there will be an exhibition of the city’s musical legacy –
called The Beat Goes On – at the World Museum Liverpool.
In June, love Liverpool hosts the People’s Festival, a weekend
celebration of working-class culture from football, fashion and music to the role of the
voluntary sector. The festival culminates with a specially commissioned work by Michael
Nyman, one of the UK’s highly regarded contemporary composers, exploring European
football culture.
A maritime festival will be held throughout July featuring the
spectacular start of the Tall Ships Races 2008 that involves more than 3,000 young sailors
from across Europe.
For young people there will also be a festival during the summer school
holidays that features the creation of a cultural village and the sitting of the European
Youth Parliament. Merseyside will also stage the finale of a nationwide schools’
Shakespeare Festival in July.
In a city with a growing reputation for its ground-breaking
productions, its theatres will be staging an array of “made in Liverpool” creations.
Two new musicals will celebrate landmarks in the Adelphi Hotel, in April, and in the
seminal 1970s nightclub – Eric’s – in October. There will also be a fresh
interpretation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters in May and a production of King Lear is under
discussion.
Performance in sport will be a key theme, with 2008 an Olympic year,
and Liverpool will stage the European Senior Boxing Championships in February. This is a
qualifier for the Beijing Games whose closing ceremony in September will trigger an event
in Liverpool that will start London’s 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
Other sporting highlights on Merseyside in 2008 include golf at The
Open at Royal Birkdale in July, the World Firefighter Games in August and the finale of
the Tour of Britain cycle race in September. And autumn sees the return of Sir Simon
Rattle to his hometown to conduct both the Berlin Philharmonic in September and the
Liverpool Phil in October.
In October, Liverpool also hosts both the RIBA Stirling Prize for
Architecture and the UK’s biggest exhibition for 20 years on the seminal designer and
architect Le Corbusier.
Collaborations between international and Liverpool artists and
residents form a major strand of 2008. Jyll Bradley’s year-long Fragrant Project will
take a unique look at the story of the city’s botanical orchid collection, the largest
in municipal hands. In partnership with local artists, Bradley will create a major piece
of artwork, as Liverpool prepares for its Year of the Environment in 2009.
And beyond Liverpool, England’s north-west is joining in the 2008
festivities. Cheshire celebrates the Year of the Garden. Lancashire focuses on its rich
culinary heritage as it hosts the Year of Food. Picking up the pace, Manchester has
crowned 2008 the Year of Sport, while Cumbria will be encouraging people to get outdoors
in its Year of Adventure.
All in all, Liverpool should be an even better place to be from now on.
By Richard Maino
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