Arts and Culture
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Liverpool Arab Arts Festival Comes To Liverpool Next Week
LAAF (Liverpool Arab Arts Festival) is the longest running annual festival of Arab arts and culture in the UK. Returning for its 23rd year this July, the festival theme is Nostalgia, which will be explored through a diverse range of disciplines, including music, theatre and performance, visual art, spoken word, literature and film. The full 2025 lineup has now been released with more information about the festival in both English and Arabic here. MUSIC AKRAM…
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“It’s Complicated”: Jade Franks on Class, Empathy and Her Debut Fringe Play
What if Hannah Montana was a working-class Scouser trying to survive Cambridge University… and not a secret pop star? That’s the brilliantly bold starting point for Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x) – the debut play from writer and performer Jade Franks, heading to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer. Funny, furious, and full of heart, the show draws directly from Jade’s own lived experience navigating the elite world of Cambridge while working…
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Creative Spotlight: In Conversation – Paul Curtis
The Art of the City: Paul Curtis on Murals, Milestones, and Merseyside Pride If you’ve wandered the streets of Liverpool with your eyes open, chances are you’ve encountered the vivid, soul-stirring work of Paul Curtis. From the now-iconic For All Liverpool’s Liver Birds wings on Jamaica Street to a growing portfolio of murals that speak to the heart of the city. Once a geologist, now a painter of walls and chronicler of culture, Curtis captures…
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Theatre Preview: The Croft Brings Chilling Drama to Liverpool Playhouse
Currently embarking on a highly anticipated UK tour, Original Theatre’s production of The Croft has already garnered significant critical attention since its 2020 premiere, being praised for its masterful blend of suspense, history, and the supernatural. It is set to run at the Liverpool Playhouse from Tuesday 1st to Saturday 5th July. Set against the starkly beautiful yet haunting backdrop of the remote Scottish Highlands, The Croft transports audiences to a former crofter’s hut in…
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INDIKA IS BACK: Milap’s Festival of Indian Arts & Culture returns to Liverpool this October
INDIKA, Milap’s festival of Indian Arts, returns to Liverpool this October with a fresh, expanded lineup of events. The 15 day celebration of Indian music, dance and culture, will take place across the entire Liverpool City Region, bringing the best of Indian arts to an even wider audience. Chiming with Milap’s 40 year anniversary, this October, the INDIKA festival will feature a programme of Indian music and dance, ranging from cutting-edge contemporary to deeply rooted…
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Amartey Golding Talks ‘Silent Knight’: A Powerful Portrait of Prison Life, On Display At FACT
Where Art and Lived Experience Collide… Some artists paint pictures. Others throw punches. Amartey Golding somehow does both – and neither – crafting work that pulls you in and holds you there, somewhere between discomfort and wonder. Now, this shape-shifting storyteller brings his latest exhibition to FACT Liverpool, and trust us, it’s one for the soul. Golding’s life reads like a patchwork of place and perspective: born in London in the late ’80s to an…
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‘Intimate And Interactive’ Theatre Returns To The Adelphi In Follow-up To Surreal Sell-out Show
Immersive theatre returns to one of Liverpool’s most famous hotels this summer with an audience experience that promises to be both ‘intimate and interactive’. The creative team behind The Bedroom which sold out its run at The Adelphi last year are heading back to the Edwardian city centre building for 2025 with follow-up show, The Living Room. Taking place in a ‘private, hidden room’ at The Adelphi, The Living Room is another unique site-specific piece of theatre brought to the city…
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Exhibition Review: Amartey Golding, Silent Knight, at FACT Liverpool
A Chain of Voices, Heard in Stillness… Step into FACT Liverpool’s Gallery 2 and you’re met with a silver spectacle — an arresting, sculptural form that draws you in and doesn’t let go. At its heart stands Silent Knight, a collaborative centrepiece by artist Amartey Golding, and the final commission in FACT’s powerful Resolution project. Its presence is undeniable — physically, emotionally, politically. Constructed in collaboration with over 50 incarcerated men from HMP Altcourse, Silent…
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Liverpool Art Fair 2025: 200 Local Artists Take Over The Royal Liver Building
Liverpool Art Fair will return to one of the city’s most iconic landmarks this summer, transforming the Royal Liver Building into a vibrant celebration of local art and creativity. Running from 11 July to 25 August 2025, the event marks its 11th edition and promises its biggest showcase yet, with nearly 200 artists exhibiting work under one roof. Organised by Liverpool-based visual arts organisation dot-art, the fair continues its mission to make art accessible for…
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Art Bytes Celebrates Record-Breaking Year as Creative Excellence Flourishes Across England
National Programme Grows 50% in Partnership with The Arts Society, Showcasing Exceptional Young Talent from Over 150 Schools. England’s most promising young artists took centre stage on 12 June as the Art Bytes national schools programme reached new heights in its fourth year, welcoming a record-breaking 150+ schools across the country – a remarkable 50% increase from 2024. The programme’s flagship celebration events, held at prestigious cultural venues from the Saatchi Gallery in London to…
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Exhibition Review: Liverpool Hope University Degree Show 2025
Art in the Maze: Finding Wonder Around Every Corner Let’s start with a confession. Navigating Crossroads at Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus is no small feat. The layout meanders, buildings slip past you, corridors tighten, doors open into places you didn’t expect. It’s part art show, part dream logic. And on a busy early evening, with private view visitors gently jostling through narrow passageways, the sense of disorientation only deepens. But here’s the thing; like…
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Exhibition Review: Caroline Gorick, After Hours, At Bridewell Gallery and Studios
Heat Outside, Hush Within… On a sweltering, airless afternoon in Liverpool, when Prescot Street seemed to shimmer under relentless sunlight, salvation comes in the form of the Bridewell Studios and Gallery—a cool, contemplative refuge tucked away behind thick Victorian walls. Step inside, and the hush is almost monastic. But it’s not silence that fills the space — it’s something charged, something quietly electric. It’s the presence of Caroline Gorick’s latest work. Her painting doesn’t so…
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The Culture Network LCR Celebrates a Transformative First Year of Growth and Impact
The Culture Network LCR CIC, the new membership organisation championing the Liverpool City Region’s arts and culture sector, is marking a milestone first year since launching in Spring 2024. With 65+ member organisations and growing, the network has quickly become a vital advocate for the region’s creative and cultural sector—driving collaboration, supporting economic growth, and expanding access to culture across the region. A Year of Impact – At a Glance 65+ cultural member organisations and…
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Liverpool Hope University to Host a Triptych of Creativity This June
Liverpool’s vibrant cultural tapestry is set to gain new threads this June as Liverpool Hope University unveils a compelling series of events, promising to be a significant platform for emergent and established artistic voices. Eschewing the conventional, these three distinct happenings offer a nuanced exploration of contemporary creative practice, inviting audiences to engage with film, spoken word, and the very processes of artistic production. The proceedings commence on Monday, 16 June, within the architectural embrace…
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Liverpool Biennial 2025: BEDROCK – Unearthing the City’s Soul
This year’s Liverpool Biennial (7 June – 14 September) – the 13th edition – is titled BEDROCK, and it’s all about what lies beneath: from Liverpool’s sandstone foundations to the social, cultural and ancestral roots that shape us. Curated by Marie-Anne McQuay, BEDROCK brings together artists from around the world to explore themes like identity, memory, family, migration, belonging and the environment. Liverpool Biennial 2025: What to Expect More than 35 international artists Free exhibitions,…
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More Events Announced For Liverpool Arab Arts Festival 2025
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF), the longest running annual festival of Arab arts and culture in the UK, returns for its 23rd year this July – and has just announced more events for this year’s edition!LAAF exists to support and champion creatives from across the Arab region and its diaspora, in the belief that art and creativity have the power to express a shared humanity. The festival also celebrates Liverpool’s unique identity; a city, with…
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Colombian Music Collective Systema Solar Come To Future Yard This June
One of Colombia’s most celebrated music collectives are heading to the Wirral this month. Systema Solar, known for turning stages into explosive carnival-like celebrations, will land in Birkenhead for a rare UK performance at Future Yard, armed with their highly anticipated new album Futuro Primitivo. Systema Solar is not your average band, they’re an artistic force. Formed in 2006 during an art biennial in Medellín, the collective was born from a collision of music, visual art,…
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Liverpool Arab Arts Festival Presents Akram Abdulfattah This July
Akram Abdulfattah is a Palestinian-American violinist who combines jazz with middle eastern and Indian music. Akram’s music is influenced by Hindu, Turkish, and Persian styles, reflecting the rich legacy and culture of oriental sounds in a modernized fashion. In 2023, his multinational group visited the UK for the first time, performing a debut London show, and appearing at Knockengorroch and Cambridge Folk festivals. Akram’s talent has received international recognition as he’s won prestigious awards and engaged in various international and cross-culture projects.…
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Liverpool Hope University Fine Art Degree Show 2025
A Celebration of Emerging Creativity… There’s something special about June in Liverpool, and it’s not just the promise of the returning sunshine. It’s degree show season—when the city’s art schools throw open their doors and let the creativity spill out into the world. And this year, Liverpool Hope University’s Fine Art Degree Show is shaping up to be a must-see on the cultural calendar. On Friday 13 June, the Creative Campus will come alive as…
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World Premiere of Symphony Orchestra Tribute To The Beatles Takes Place In Liverpool This July
A unique tribute to the music of The Beatles, which has been over two years in the making, will be performed for the first time ever in Liverpool this July. Another Seven Symphonies will see 39 different Beatles songs – divided over 7 symphonies performed by a full symphonic orchestra without the use of any rhythm section or vocals. WedgeView Music Netherlands will present this world premiere at the exquisite Tung Auditorium, that aptly resides inside the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre. The Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the Brazilian Alexandra Arrieche considered one of the most exciting and unique conductors of her…