Independents Biennial
Independents Biennial (@IndyBiennial) is a festival of contemporary art from Liverpool, Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley & Sefton. Running simultaneously with the Liverpool Biennial since its initiation in 1999, the Independents Biennial is currently organised by Art in Liverpool and aims to celebrate the region’s creative life and cast a fresh perspective on how people in Merseyside see, make and use art. The 2018 festival tackled issues close to the hearts of artists who live and work in the region and invited international artists to the city to share their take on the spaces we inhabit.
Patrick from Art in Liverpool gave an update on the Independents Biennial festival which runs alongside Liverpool Biennial from 10th July to 28th October 2019. Art in Liverpool currently runs the Independents Biennial and have a research and development project to develop the festival. There is no theme to the Independents Biennial festival and it covers the whole of the Liverpool City Region. They will be offering commissions and residencies which will be announced in February. There will be 5 commissions in St Helens and five other commissions. This year, Independents Biennial will be partnering with and sharing space in major galleries and will have space in the Liverpool Biennial catalogue. Patrick will update via the network in a few months’ time. Metal Liverpool are partnering with Art in Liverpool to support the artists involved. Their work also involves engaging new artists with the Independents Biennial.
Metal Edge Hill
Metal is a national organisation with bases in Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea and Liverpool. In each place, they work from buildings of historic significance that they have transformed from empty or derelict spaces into vibrant cultural community hubs. From these bases, Metal works to provide the catalyst that can transform the potential of people and places through great art and inspiring ideas. In Liverpool, Metal is based at Edge Hill Station. Metal will be lead development partners for Independents Biennial. During the production of the festival, Art In Liverpool will be hosted at Edge Hill Station, and they will also take on the role as Artist Liaison, working closely with Art In Liverpool to develop new paths for artists to engage. A large part of Metal’s work in Liverpool is to offer artists’ residencies called Time and Space Residencies. During Liverpool Biennial Metal will be offering 4 x 6 month residency opportunities between March and August 2020, in partnership with Art in Liverpool. These will be announced in February. The opportunity is available to recent graduates as well as artists at any other stages in their career. They will be considering a number of points when selecting an artist but are keen to find an individual or collective whose practice is socially engaged. Artists will be able to apply using an online form, but there will also be the opportunity to send a video or audio, if this method is preferred. If you’d like more info about the residencies or metal in general then please see their website www.metalculture.com/about-us/liverpool and email Edgehill@metalculture.com for enquiries about the residencies.
Studio Shuffle
Max from The Royal Standard spoke about Studio Shuffle, a one night only event that he organised in October and is hoping to do more regularly. Studio Shuffle was a one night only opening of exhibitions at different venues in the Baltic Triangle. Some of the exhibiting groups were already based in the Baltic Triangle and others were brought in to occupy spaces just for the event. The fist Studio Shuffle included Road, Dorothy, Arena, Antisteel, Convenience Gallery and The Royal Standard. Max wants future events to include more groups/artists and it could be in different areas of Liverpool. He is open to ideas at the moment. Please contact Max if you have any ideas about Studio Shuffle or if you’d like to take part in some way. mcmallender@gmail.com The next Studio Shuffle will be on 6th February.
Art in Windows
Adrian Jeans spoke briefly about an Art in Windows open call which closes in mid Jan. Art in Windows has a window on Bold Place in which artists can exhibit their work. They have spaces from March – August 2020. See Curator Space for the application https://www.curatorspace.com/opportunities/detail/prime-exhibition-window-space-in-liverpool-city-centre/3873
Mooncup Theatre
Mooncup Theatre is a womXn led collective which aims to provide a bold, political voice that theatrically engages through dark comedy, physicality and song, to promote open conversations and question world views. On 19th December Mooncup will be presenting THE GLAMOURNAUGHTS … dinner, show, space disco at 17 Love Lane. The event will chart over 50 years of female resilience, resistance and rebellion across the cosmos! £15 per head. You can find out more about Mooncup at www.mooncuptheatre.org
Road Studios
Rob from Road Studios spoke briefly about their exhibitions space. Road have no official exhibitions space and were had a temporary space until recently, but they lost it just before putting on a big exhibition. If anyone knows of a space that Road might want to look into please contact rob at info@roadstudios.co.uk Rob is also interested in putting together a pack about exhibition spaces in Liverpool, detailing which spaces artists can apply to and how to go about it, with up to date information. If you are interested in helping with this please let him know.
Liverpool Artists' Network 