People. If you wanted a one word answer as to why Liverpool was named European Capital of Culture, 2008, then ?people? would be it. Beyond what was on offer in the visual arts, museums and theatres, an array of music festivals and being a dynamic city undergoing a thrilling renaissance, Liverpool?s magic ingredient was the inhabitants of this remarkable port. The city?s people, notes Mike Doran, were at the heart of its bid to put Liverpool alongside some of Europe?s most creative and cosmopolitan capitals.
Liverpool is promising more than a year-long international celebration of music, the arts, heritage and culture. Culture is at the core of the city?s dynamic regeneration, empowering its people to unleash their creative potential.
Creativity. Participation. Regeneration. These are the three key elements that are changing the face of Liverpool. Sir Jeremy Isaacs, chair of the Capital of Culture Judges? Panel said this about the city?s quest to put its citizens at heart of its cultural year: ?Liverpool?s bid, crucially, best combines wholehearted public participation. The Panel decided that, from a strong field, Liverpool was most likely to deliver a successful year-long celebratory festival in 2008, and would represent the United Kingdom to Europe and the world with flair, energy and distinction.??
Liverpool has already embarked on an ambitious Creative Community Programme involving thousands of residents. It spent a third of its bidding budget focusing people?s minds on what they can do, and what they can aim to achieve during Liverpool?s creative voyage. The first thing the city did when it announced it was bidding, was to ask the public why the city should bid. Out of this creative consultation came ten reasons which became the chapters in the bid document. And from these ten reasons, emerged the idea to theme each of the years running up to 2008 and beyond, starting with 2003 as the Year of Learning. This acknowledged that education was the bedrock of culture and that Liverpool was a pioneer in learning, boasting three universities, more than 50,000 students and centres of excellence in fields from astronomy and tropical medicine to sport science and computer technology. A legacy of the Year of Learning is the Friend Ship. Designed by a Liverpool artist, this interactive learning vessel contains audio and touch effects, as well as international greeting symbols to show how different cultures communicate. The Friend Ship also contains treasure chests of musical instruments, artwork, and clay for children to explore, with all items donated by the city?s major cultural institutions.
When the themes were established and a planned run-up to 2008 was in place, the Liverpool Culture Company brought the city?s major stakeholders, such as the museums, theatres and galleries, around one table for them to think about how they could reflect the themes in their artistic programmes.
One major step forward was the development of the community participation programme. Liverpool City Council provided a grant of £420,000 for organisations and artists to come forward with projects on the theme of Faith In One City, the criterion being that projects should have longevity, true community participation and the ability to match-fund. More than 200 expressions of interest were received and a total of 80 projects received grants. By the end of 2004, these projects will have involved more than 70,000 people across 2,500 events. They range from art and photo exhibitions to producing carnivals, concerts, CDs, films, plays, mosaics and even setting up a radio station, celebrating European, Arabic, African and Asian cultures, and have involved faith groups such as Baha?is, Buddhists, Catholics, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Protestants.
Highlights of the programme include: an Arabic Arts Festival; 2nd Annual Liverpool Irish Festival; Women?s International Music Festival; the first Urban Gospel Summit held outside London; the creation of a community garden; an online Chinese newspaper; comedy courses for under-14-year-olds and faith leaders; and a photography project with residents by a South Korean artist, for the Liverpool Biennial. The year-long programme has resulted in collaborations from as far as China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Somalia, Sudan, St Lucia, Sweden and Yemen.
And the city?s mainstream institutions such as the BBC, FACT, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatres, Tate Liverpool and National Museums Liverpool have played their part. They have encouraged their own community programmes to deliver innovative projects that have reached out and connected with new audiences. One included transforming Lime Street train station into an art gallery of more than 200 self-portraits.
In total, more than 1,400 artists are involved in the Creative Community programme acting as mentors, passing on their expertise, skills and crucially their enthusiasm. The 2005 Creative Community programme is now being planned, with even greater levels of funding in place to ensure the emphasis remains as much on education and training as artistic quality. Liverpool City Council Leader Mike Storey said ?None of these schemes are huge in global terms, but they are small schemes making a huge difference to people?s lives in Liverpool. And what really excites me is that there is so much more to come.??
Mike Doran is News Officer at Liverpool City Council. t: 0151 233 6761; w: http://www.liverpool08.com