A Citywide Affair

Liv­er­pool Bien­nial Inter­na­tional Fes­ti­val of Con­tem­po­rary Art

Liv­er­pool Bien­nial Inter­na­tional Fes­ti­val of Con­tem­po­rary Art was con­ceived and founded by James Moores in 1998, and is pre­sented free to the pub­lic every two years over a ten-week period. Along­side the Inter­na­tional exhi­bi­tion, the Fes­ti­val includes the John Moores Paint­ing Com­pe­ti­tion and Bloomberg New Con­tem­po­raries (both U.K.-based, with more than 50 years of his­tory behind them). Liv­er­pool Bien­nial is the largest and one of the most excit­ing con­tem­po­rary visual arts events in the U.K., and, with 975,000 vis­its in 2008, one of the best attended anywhere.

Since its incep­tion in 1999, the Inter­na­tional exhi­bi­tion, at the heart of the bien­nial, has always been shown in mul­ti­ple gallery and non-gallery spaces across the city. In 2000, Lewis Biggs ini­ti­ated both col­lab­o­ra­tive cura­to­r­ial respon­si­bil­ity and the prin­ci­ple of the exhi­bi­tion being com­posed pri­mar­ily of com­mis­sioned new work. This com­bined approach ensures the exhi­bi­tion is embed­ded in the city, and remains unique among bien­ni­als globally.

The sixth Liv­er­pool Bien­nial is dated for Sep­tem­ber 18 through Novem­ber 28 and will take place in venues and sites around Liv­er­pool City Cen­tre, includ­ing the Walker Art Gallery, FACT, the Blue­coat, Open Eye Gallery, Tate Liv­er­pool, A Foun­da­tion Liv­er­pool, and many non-gallery sites.

www.biennial.com