Liverpool, Capital Of Culture for 2008

Writing on the Wall

Posted by Stephen

“One Year in Liverpool” is the name given to a project by Stockholm artists collective A-APE. The project will last for the whole of the year and will be engaging the residents of Liverpool and visitors to the city as they go about their business. Buildings and public spaces will be adorned with slogans designed to question beliefs and evoke emotions in order to gauge the opinion’s of the average Liverpudlian.

The project will manifest itself in a series of installations that will spread through unexpected locations in the city centre to reveal the bigger picture.

The A-APE website is currently hosting a questionnaire containing 10 questions, the answers to the questions will enable statistics to be gathered about how the average Scouser currently feels about life, their city and other peoples’ perception of the city. At the end of the year, when all the questions have been asked, the answers will be collated and published in a newspaper supplement to give a clearer picture of how people feel about living in Liverpool.

Answering the questions will only take a minute of your time and once you have submitted yours you will be able to see the overall level of opinion at this time.

Liverpool: European Capital of Culture!

Posted by Stephen

I have been thinking a lot about my dissertation recently and I hope to highlight the importance of ensuring that a city is portrayed in a positive light. However, this research does not relate directly to Public Relations, and so it is arguable that there is a gap in research in order to investigate the ways in which PR strategies are initiated, developed and then implemented to an attempt to steer away any criticism.

This concept can be directly related to Liverpool as it was initially on a crest of a wave when it beat Newcastle to the title against all expectations, but within months the cracks in the Public Relations strategies began to demonstrate and element of uncertainty. For example: Plans for a futuristic building by Will Alsop, on the Mersey riverbank were dropped when the financial structure proved untenable. In addition, in June 2006, the Australian cabaret singer and festival director Robyn Archer, who had been hired on a six-figure salary, abruptly left her post and returned to Melbourne, having hardly been seen in the city.

Source : PR Through A Scouser’s Eyes
Author : : Lizzy
Full Post

Bricking Up The Mersey

Posted by Stephen

So it seems I’m writing about coming back to Liverpool again. Alex and I have just come back from three weeks around Italy, Corfu and a day in Albania. Always leaving, always returning.

You most likely haven’t heard it yet, but Ringo Starr has just written a song about leaving Liverpool for his new album. Interestingly, his album is entitled “8″ and seems to correlate to the Liverpool 08 European capital of culture events. However, he claims they are totally unrelated and somewhat ironically, due to his performance of this song at the opening ceremonies, Liverpudlians feel that Ringo is no longer “related” to their home town. The chorus goes, “Liverpool I left you, but I did not let you down”, but with too much emphasis on the leaving part for Liverpool’s liking. Anyhow, the scouse people are a very proud breed and you mustn’t place it in the shadow, no matter how much the locals berate it for all its faults. (”What the hell are you doing in Liverpool Lad, its shite over ‘ere?”, they say me when I tell them where I’m from).

Source : Du Grand Duc aux Bisons
Author : Le Grand Duc
Full Post

Culture is as culture does

Posted by Stephen

I’m very happy to be writing from Bristol tonight after a long weekend in Liverpool for the annual Classical Association conference. The conference itself was pretty good, and it was a fun weekend, don’t get me wrong; the fun just came from different places than we students had imagined. Expectations were high because Liverpool has recently been crowned European Capital of Culture for 2008, and we were looking forward to spending our free time touring the docks and browsing through galleries and museums. Through no fault of Liverpool’s, the weather pretty much put the kibosh on those plans. Apart from brilliant sunshine as we arrived and left the city, the weekend was solid rain, varying from annoying sprinkles to a full-on downpour complemented by high winds that washed out our free afternoon yesterday. So, if you want an assessment of Liverpool as a cultural Mecca, I can only say that if by culture, you mean vast quantities of mediocre coffee and cheap wine, then Liverpool has a lot to offer.

Source : Dead Languages in Foreign Accents
Author : Annie
Full Article

Thought for 08

Posted by Stephen

THE greatest lesson that Liverpool should learn from its success in becoming the Capital of Culture is that when it unites, it is invincible.

Liverpool’s cultural achievements speak for themselves. Its theatres, museums, galleries, orchestral achievements and literary heritage, make it the best cultural centre outside London. The new Museum of Liverpool is under construction; a renovated and expanded World Museum is attracting record numbers; the new International Slavery Museum is open; and the spectacular 9,000-seater waterfront stadium, the Liverpool Echo Arena, is up and running. Europe’s biggest retail development is under way; the cruise liner berth will become a full terminal; and the Turner Prize at the Tate is the first time outside London.

Source : Liverpool ECHO
Full Article

NB The links in this article have been added by us and are not part of the original article in the Liverpool ECHO.

Small “c” capital of culture

Posted by Stephen

I was in Liverpool yesterday, since I like to go over now and then. It’s more of a building site than ever, which surprised me - presumably this year of culture didn’t stop the buildings that are going on. But you come out of the grubby-as-ever Lime Street and don’t really feel that you’re in a city where anything particular is going on, despite the billboards proclaiming it everywhere. Presumably later in the year all of this will change, but for now, a tourist would be disappointed I think. My favourite second hand bookshop, next to the station, is no more - it hung on grimly, longer than I expected - but now its gone, so Liverpool 1 Culture 0 on that count. However, things looked up when I got to the Tate, always a favourite gallery space, where they’ve had their most prominent rehang in years. Their exhibition of 20th century art is divided into the figurative and abstract over two floors, but in each case the theme weakens as you get towards the present day.

Source : Art of Fiction
Author : Bournemouth Runner
Full Article

« Previous Entries