Arts and Culture

Discover the best of arts and culture in Liverpool, featuring exhibitions, interviews, and cultural events celebrating the city’s creative spirit.

  • LightNight 2019 Guide 1

    LightNight 2019 Guide

    LightNight returns for its 10th year on 17 May with over 100 free events happening across 50 venues in the city. LightNight is a free, diverse, late-night cultural programme which celebrates different art forms in one spectacular night of entertainment and this year the theme is ‘Ritual’. “For LightNight 2019, we will consider ritual as a universal phenomenon, spanning the breadth of human history, and also as an artistic process by which we shift our…

  • Leonardo da Vinci: A Life In Drawing At The Walker Art Gallery

    Leonardo da Vinci: A Life In Drawing At The Walker Art Gallery

    Leonardo da Vinci: A Life In Drawing is coming to Liverpool this Spring. The Walker Art Gallery will host an exhibition of 12 Leonardo da Vinci drawings to mark the 500th anniversary of the Renaissance master’s death, exploring the diversity of subjects that inspired his creativity, including painting, sculpture, architecture, music, anatomy, engineering, cartography, geology and botany. The free exhibition will also present new information about Leonardo’s working practices and creative process, gathered through scientific research…

  • Toxteth Reservoir: Aurora Installation Review 1

    Toxteth Reservoir: Aurora Installation Review

    Toxteth Reservoir Aurora Installation is not to be missed… Toxteth Reservoir in Liverpool has become the setting for a unique art installation that harnesses the power of Earth’s most valuable element, water. The cavernous reservoir once used to supply the surrounding areas with two million gallons of water, has been home to Aurora for the last three weeks. An immersive installation that not only addresses the building’s history, Aurora, also seeks to remind spectators the…

  • Toxteth Reservoir Brought Back To Life With Art Installation

    Toxteth Reservoir Brought Back To Life With Art Installation

    For over 100 years it held 2 million gallons of water…but now you’ll be able to experience Toxteth reservoir in a very unique way thanks to a new art installation known as Aurora. Aurora is an experience like no other. Step inside the cave-like vaults of Toxteth Reservoir for a 40-minute ‘walk on water’. Through dark chambers and between towering iron arches, water surrounds, floods and falls around you, both beautiful and terrifying. The sights,…

  • Liverpool Museums and Art Galleries Guide 1

    Liverpool Museums and Art Galleries Guide

    Welcome to the vibrant city of Liverpool, a cultural hub brimming with art, history, and creative expression. From its famous musical heritage to its rich maritime history, this city has captured the hearts of millions worldwide. But Liverpool’s allure extends beyond its legendary music scene and architectural splendors; it is also home to a captivating array of art galleries and museums that showcase the city’s artistic prowess. Check out our guide to Liverpool’s unmissable museums…

  • The Mind Map Presents: We Love Life - Mental Health In Music Photo Exhibition 1

    The Mind Map Presents: We Love Life – Mental Health In Music Photo Exhibition

    We Love Life is a series of 7 photo interviews based around the issues of mental health in musicians. The event is brought to you by The Mind Map, a Liverpool based mental health enterprise and by Newcastle based photographer, Darina Mohammed. Launching at Liverpool Sound City and continuing through mental health awareness week, the show uncovers the different ways musicians stay mentally well. Photographed in Liverpool and Newcastle, the exhibition, held at Constellations, features beautifully saturated film…

  • LightNight Liverpool Returns on Friday 18th May

    LightNight Liverpool Returns on Friday 18th May

    LightNight returns on Friday 18 May 2018, unlocking the doors of Liverpool’s best-loved and lesser-known arts, culture and heritage venues late into the night. A culture crawl like no other, visitors of all ages are invited to follow an unforgettable trail of events in celebration of the city’s year-round world-class cultural offer. LightNight showcases the creative lifeblood of Liverpool, presenting new and ambitious artistic commissions amidst a vibrant programme of more than 100 events including…

  • New FACT Exhibition To Explore Liverpool's Unique History of Observation 1

    New FACT Exhibition To Explore Liverpool’s Unique History of Observation

    On 22nd June ‘The New Observatory’ transforms FACT into an observatory for the 21st century, bringing together an international group of artists exploring new and alternative modes of measuring, predicting, and sensing the world. In collaboration with the Open Data Institute, the exhibition engages with Liverpool’s unique history of observation, and showcases works developed with local communities. Highlights include a 40-ft high four-storey wooden watchtower, works allowing us a peek into the lives of a colony…

  • Liverpool LightNight 2017 Preview 1

    Liverpool LightNight 2017 Preview

    The annual LightNight festival is coming back to Liverpool for its 8th consecutive year. Mark your calendars for Friday, 19th May – with the festivities kicking off at 5pm until late. Festival-goers can choose from over 100 different events across the city, with something for everyone, including art, music, performances, workshops, walking tours and arts and crafts. The theme for this year’s festival is ‘Time’ so you can expect a unique look at the past,…

  • New LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner Art Project At FACT

    New LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner Art Project At FACT

    Starting from 22 March 2017, the durational art project HEWILLNOTDIVIDE.US by LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner will be adopted by FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool, UK. A flag emblazoned with the words “HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US” will be continuously live-streamed from the arts organisation to www.hewillnotdivide.us for four years, or the duration of the 45th Presidency of the United States. The artwork is conceived by the artists as a resistance to division, and to the…

  • World Famous Photographer Turns Titanic Hotel Room Into A Camera 1

    World Famous Photographer Turns Titanic Hotel Room Into A Camera

    International photographer Luke Ching, has created a work of art at Titanic Hotel & Rum Warehouse, Stanley Dock for LOOK/17, Liverpool’s International Photography Festival. Ching, who is widely acknowledged as one of Hong Kong’s most exciting conceptual artists was commissioned to turn one of Titanic’s rooms into a pinhole capture camera photographing the Tobacco Warehouse opposite. Interested in regeneration, Ching combined a camera and architectural space to create a work reflecting on Liverpool’s grand warehouse…

  • FACT Exhibition 'How Much of This Is Fiction' Opens 2nd March 1

    FACT Exhibition ‘How Much of This Is Fiction’ Opens 2nd March

    FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) has announced their next exhibition How Much of This Is Fiction; open from 2 March until 21 May, and focusing on politically inspired media art that uses deception in all its forms. The exhibition shows the artist as trickster, using a variety of hoaxes and hacks to reveal the hidden workings of power structures. One local example of a media hoax to make a statement which the Echo…

  • The Snowflake Trail Returns To Liverpool

    The Snowflake Trail Returns To Liverpool

    From 1 December – 3 January, The Snowflake Trail returns to Liverpool city centre. Follow the story specially created for you to follow the trail to find sculptural snowflakes and see local landmarks transformed into a festive wonderland. The Snowflake Trail will see children and adults alike trekking across the city centre in search of each giant snowflakes to unlock the story and be in with a chance of winning some incredible prizes. All you need…

  • sarah sparkes

    FACT Exhibition; No Such Things As Gravity

    What is the nature of scientific truth? FACT’s new exhibition No Such Thing As Gravity explores the limits of science where the absence of established facts may leave room for new theories, alternative science, and conspiracy theories. This exhibition shines a light on those areas of science that can cause  unease and controversy because of the public’s fascination with alternative science, conspiracy theories and irrational beliefs. Curated by Rob La Frenais, the exhibition features work by Tania…

  • Winter Arts Market held at Liverpool Cathedral

    Winter Arts Market held at Liverpool Cathedral

    Merseyside’s largest arts and crafts market, the Winter Arts Market will return for an eighth year on Saturday 3 December 2016. Staged this year in the breathtaking surroundings of Liverpool Cathedral the market will see this awe-inspiring space, one of the most beautiful in the city, transformed into a bustling independent shopping experience that’s the perfect place to pick up unique Christmas gifts. This year’s market will feature work from more than 200 of the…

  • Liverpool Ghost Stories, A Car Fuelled By Water & Mass Hypnotism In FACT’s New Autumn Exhibition 'No Such Thing As Gravity'

    Liverpool Ghost Stories, A Car Fuelled By Water & Mass Hypnotism In FACT’s New Autumn Exhibition ‘No Such Thing As Gravity’

    Opening this autumn, FACT’s new ambitious exhibition No Such Thing as Gravity will explore the ever-changing limits of science, through art. Showing from 11 November 2016 until 5 February 2017, the exhibition will feature a wide range of works merging art with scientific experiments, new and future technologies, and exploring the borders between life and death. Curated by Rob La Frenais, No Such Thing as Gravity will exhibit both new commissions and existing works by…

  • Mark Leckey Creates A Unique Film For Liverpool Biennial 2016

    Mark Leckey Creates A Unique Film For Liverpool Biennial 2016

    For this year’s Biennial, Mark Leckey has assembled a film using archival material from television shows, advertisements and music, to create a record of all the significant events of his life from the 1970s until the 1990s. Dream English Kid is presented in an environment that contains new sculptural works connected to material in the film. In Liverpool Biennial 2016 unfolds throughout the landscape of the city. It is organised as a story narrated in several…

  • Get Creative At FACT This Summer 1

    Get Creative At FACT This Summer

    This summer, leading media arts centre FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) offers a range of exciting activities for young people and families, and continues to expand its programme for anyone interested in getting involved with making and experimenting with electronics. A partnership between FACT and the Liverpool School of Art and Design at LJMU, FACT’s creative technology hub FACTLab continues to welcome visitors of all ages to experiment and explore. Since its launch…

  • "A Collage For The Most Famous Club In The World" - The Cavern Club at 60

    “A Collage For The Most Famous Club In The World” – The Cavern Club at 60

    The Cavern Club is sixty years old in 2017.  Members of the press and Liverpool’s music community are invited to The Cavern’s offices on North John Street to witness the unveiling of a collage created by local artist Philip Hayes to celebrate the Club’s 60th Birthday. Philip has previously produced collages for CREAM nightclub, The Farm, Cast, and is working with the Hillsborough campaign, local festivals, music venues and Unite the Union at the present time. Bill Heckle and Dave Jones, Cavern City…

  • The John Moores Painting Prize 2016

    The John Moores Painting Prize 2016

    Since the first John Moores exhibition in 1957 the standard of entries for the painting prize has been extremely high. The contemporary pieces in the 2016 exhibition are stunning examples of modern art, from the stark minimalism of Squint (19) by Michael Simpson, one of the prize winners, through the hyper-detailed Cave Floor by Donal Maloney to the neon and black splendour of Totem by Alex Rennie. Other highlights include the realism of No Ball…

Liverpool has long been recognised as one of the UK’s most creative cities, with a thriving arts and culture scene that continues to inspire, innovate, and attract visitors from across the globe. From world-class art galleries and museums to grassroots exhibitions, community-led projects, and bold new work from emerging artists, the city offers an ever-changing landscape of creativity.

Our arts and culture in Liverpool section celebrates everything from major cultural moments to intimate creative experiences. Here, you’ll find coverage of the city’s most exciting art exhibitions, from Tate Liverpool’s thought-provoking contemporary shows to Bluecoat’s pioneering visual arts programme and FACT’s boundary-pushing exploration of digital culture. We also shine a spotlight on independent galleries and artist-run spaces, such as Output Gallery and dot-art, which champion local talent and give a platform to Liverpool’s diverse artistic voices.

But arts and culture in Liverpool is about more than exhibitions. It’s also about the stories behind the artists, curators, and cultural leaders who shape the city. Through interviews, features, and opinion pieces, we explore the inspirations, challenges, and creative journeys of those contributing to Liverpool’s cultural life. Whether it’s an established painter, a theatre director, or a multidisciplinary artist experimenting with new forms, we share their perspectives and amplify their work.

Liverpool’s cultural calendar is packed with must-see events, and this section keeps you up to date with the highlights. From visual arts festivals like Liverpool Biennial, to multi-arts celebrations such as Africa Oyé and Homotopia, we cover the festivals and events that bring people together and reflect the city’s spirit of creativity and inclusion. Alongside these larger-scale happenings, we also look at grassroots cultural activity—pop-up exhibitions, open studios, and collaborative community projects that keep the city’s cultural identity vibrant and alive.

The city’s strong cultural foundations, built on its history as a UNESCO City of Music and European Capital of Culture 2008, continue to fuel innovation. Today, arts and culture in Liverpool is about creating accessible, inclusive, and exciting opportunities for everyone to experience creativity. Whether you’re interested in traditional painting and sculpture, cutting-edge digital installations, performance art, or cultural heritage, Liverpool offers something for every taste.

By exploring this section, you’ll discover not only what’s on, but also gain insights into why the arts matter here and now. Liverpool’s artists and cultural organisations are shaping important conversations about identity, diversity, community, and the future—and we’re here to share their stories.

So whether you’re planning your next gallery visit, looking to discover a new artist, or simply want to stay connected with the heartbeat of Liverpool’s creative scene, this category is your guide to everything happening in arts and culture across the city.