‘Culture’
Restoring the Balance – 1 Day Conference at FACT. 30 Mar 2010 Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 A
Sian Hughes in Climate Change Exhibition, Rhyl Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 A
The history of Lewis’s Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Events & activities at National Museums Liverpool.
In this informal talk Arnold Lewis of the Jewish Historical Society will tell you all about the history of Liverpool’s oldest department store.
Date: Thursday 4 March 2010
Time: 12noon
Venue: National Conservation Centre
Room: Exhibition gallery
Suitable for: adults
Booking: Free drop-in event, no need to book
This event is part of the Lewis’s fifth floor: a department story exhibition.
More Vacancies at Liverpool Biennial Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
There’s a few new jobs at the Biennial.
Karen and Jazamin at Eggspace Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 A
Sonia Boyce at the Bluecoat Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 A
Some Notes on Strategy for the Arts – Paul Smith Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
My briefing notes for an upcoming scenario planning meeting start with a question that looks backwards rather than forward: what is the most important factor that has shaped the visual arts in the last three years? The intriguing aspect of this is to ask the question of the future, not of the present: if one looked back in five, seven or ten years, what factors would have shaped the arts?
The answer for the coming period may well be about vision and how tightly the arts can keep to their visions. Are we, as individual units, doing first and foremost that which we do best? The environment for the arts has become more complex and the demands more varied but I believe those organisations with a simple, compelling commitment to their mission thrive best. This does not mean that they avoid diversification, but rather that new activities spring from the essential values of the artist or organisation.
The vexing paradox of funding will remain, however. Many funding streams work to innovation and new projects rather than core activities. So chasing resources can fill the minds of arts managers. Are there other models?
Liverpool’s reign as European Capital of Culture facilitated the emergence of Liverpool as an action research centre for culture as a civic leadership force, extraordinary programming, collaborative working and the interlinking of complementary sectors such as Higher Education and the arts. It has not been explored, but I wonder if Liverpool arts organisations have inadvertently begun to operate according to the principles of intrapreneurialism.
Loosely, intrapreneurship is a “management style that integrates risk-taking and innovation approaches, as well as the reward and motivational techniques, that are more traditionally thought of as being the province of … entrepreneurs, even though they have the resources, capabilities and security of the larger [system] to draw upon.” 1
The collaborative model of LARC (Liverpool Arts Regeneration Campaign) is creating a larger, more stable, albeit informal, system that draws upon the values of entrepreneurs (“trying things until successful, learning from failures, attempting to conserve resources, etc.” ibid) and understands that the investment of resources (especially time) must bring rewards.
So I ask what the future holds for the arts. Can we develop a resilient, productive system which is based upon appropriately resourcing the core activities of the arts but which motivates risk taking and, more importantly, recognises and rewards success by recycling resources and understanding the differences between investment and support?
Paul Smith
Executive Director
Liverpool Biennial
On the Streets UPDATE Meeting at The Sandon Pub, Anfield. PART ONE Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Last night, to the soundtrack of singing from one of the biggest Liverpool funeral parties ever seen, we held an update meeting for our On the Streets project for local residents, councillors and well, everyone really.
On the Streets is the project we are doing in Anfield at the moment. It’s a three year programme that’s trying to engage ‘The Kids’ (aged 11-17…not really kids anymore..) in Anfield in issues of physical regeneration in their neighbourhood. We started with about 20 young people last year and have been partnering them up with artists, architects and designers to give them a voice in the whole process and, for those of you who may think this all sounds a bit ‘worthy’ seriously go and have a walk/drive around Anfield. It must be quite bizarre to have to live in a place that, in certain parts (like the V streets), has basically shut down and just awaits demolition. On my first drive around we saw a primary school that was literally surrounded by boarded up houses, streets and streets of them and that was their view from school. What kind of image is that going to instill in a childs mind of how society works and how life in general works. ANYWAY, now I sound a bit worthy but I wouldn’t like my child to go to school every day and think ‘there are no people around and where I live is just waiting to be demolished…’
Since the last community update (about 9 months ago) we have been running workshops for the group of young poeple to start them thinking about some new possibilities for the area. There’s been a trip to see Turning the Place Over and the Urban Strawberry Lunch at St Lukes Church to see different uses of urban space and buildings, they came and did a session with Canal Club (part of Urbanism09) and also a trip to see New Islington in Manchester which seems to be going through similar times to Anfield.
http://www.neweastmanchester.com/area_map/2_-_new_islington/
http://www.cabe.org.uk/case-studies/ancoats-and-new-islington
To bond the group there has also been more funfunfun trips such as Go Karting in Manchester. Jenna Beaty, who is working closely with the group, said this was really interesting as they were asking the guy who runs it lots of questions about how he ran his business, the mechanics of it. Apparently they are already, and I suppose unsurprisingly, totally switched on to the idea of making money and the business world. Totally, also, switched on to a certain scepticism (maybe even…negativity? or perhaps even better ‘realistic defeatism’?), as one said ‘We’d rather not have it at all than it get robbed or burnt down’.
More recently the group has been working with Ed Purver, who is based in New York, to film for an installation that will be shown at the big launch of the On the Streets project on 16th April 6-8pm. They filmed on a trampoline in front of a blue screen and the result is rather magical and amusing. Instead of boarded up windows in the -to be- demolished streets you would have the kids jumping up and down and dancing around you. Have a look at the video’s below..
http://www.edpurver.com/
and see the sketched out films for Anfield here
http://vimeo.com/7817288
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfm91mQOXrE
The only concern at the meeting about this was that, after a drink or two (or five), making your way home at night and seeing a giant girl staring down at you from inside the houses might be quite frightening. Yes it probably will be.
Theres a few other things I want to tell you about this but I need to go and put my potato in the oven and have a meeting (not about the potato) so I will write it later.
Peter Arlt and eating Italian food in Tranmere Monday, March 1st, 2010
Peter Arlt, our Linz residency artist, held a lunch today in Tranmere to talk to some of the people he has been meeting in his walks around the Wirral about the project he has been thinking about for Mersey Park. The idea, although it has not been totally settled upon yet and still has a way to go before is finalised, is rather lovely and playful. He proposes a column (Peter calls it ‘a column for the people’), not unlike the beacon or monument that sits at the entrance of the Mersey Tunnel that would become a barometer for the mood of the area. It might have lights on top that could be switched on or off, or may have several lights that could be switched on/off individually. The idea would be that there would be a group of residents who would meet every year and decide what the year has been like for Tranmere and if it’s been good, the lights go on and if it’s been bad, they go off.
Peter has the idea that on a very basic level the residents could have their say on how the year has gone for them, not really demanding anything or expecting anything but just able to make their opinion known in a very obvious and also quite cheeky, I think, way…..hey, times are bad, but people can still have a sense of humour.
It was only the first meeting today to introduce the proposed plan to residents and as Peter says, if they don’t like the idea he won’t do it but the reception seemed to be good and I think everyone felt that we could take the project to the next stage.
Peter described his feelings on the effect that regeneration has had on the residents of Tranmere as like a ‘tsunami’. Feelings echoed by the residents present who spoke about the issues of buildings being bulldozed with no alternative offered and no real need seen, “There’s nothing wrong with our houses, our houses are nice” said one woman, expressing confusion on why proposed regeneration projects seemingly only wanted to re-genrify the area and attract more young upwardly mobile people into the area (the point was, the regeneration programme has forced people to move away in the first place and now those people have new lives elsewhere and don’t want to return anyway…who is this new ‘public’ they are trying to attract and what would bring them to Tranmere?. Of course housing market renewal is exactly about stimulating the ‘market’ and not about he people at all. Who cares as long as they can afford it). This is all very well, but someone commented, ‘What about the old fogies like us?’
Now of course, many regeneration programmes have stopped entirely due to the economic downturn (or just total lack of foresight) and this is inducing even more worry, lots of people have been through this ‘renewal’ type senario before and now will go through it again, when will things ever improve and settle down. Residents still have a lot of hope and at least when things were visibly progressing, it was easier to have some hope in the future, as one resident put it beautifully -
‘When you see cement going in between two bricks, peoples hearts just lift”
Well we may not literally be putting cement between two bricks but I think our cement is of a different kind, I think Peter is interested in neighbourhood ‘glue’ and his project seeks to, not only create something for Tranmere but more specifically for the people who live there.
We will keep you updated as the project progresses.
Get Touched – and Remember Friday, February 26th, 2010
I’ve been busy reflecting on Steven Connor’s talk this week. His ‘A Philosophy of Fidgets’ was a great start to our talks series and a useful way of understanding our approach to developing the theme of ‘touched’ for Liverpool Biennial 2010/
The act of fidgeting is a reminder of a basic human need to engage with the world we live in. The fact that it is not focused on an accountable outcome, that it exists as an extension of our need to communicate with ourselves as much as other people comes as a relief.
Sometimes you don’t want to have an opinion or to achieve anything more than rehearse.
It brings to mind that irritating aphorism, “life is not a rehearsal”.
Indulging in some really good fidgeting goes some way to deflating that one.
Part of the thinking happening in the office this week has been around the subject of merchandise. It is not something we do a great deal of, but we know it can be a great way to promote the festival.
We have looked at objects that might riff off the theme, touched and at ways of capturing the essence of what Liverpool Biennial is – to us and to you, our audiences.
If you have any great ideas about merchandise you think we should be looking at, why not let us know?
If you have any