Liverpool Arts Diary – July 2016

With Liverpool’s arts scene more vibrant than ever, Getintothis’ Cath Bore looks forward to July’s best bits.

Liverpool Biennial kicks off on July 9 and lasts until October, but Liverpool boasts more in its cultural arsenal than the large, eye grabbing festivals.

We searched for jewels in intimate venues, out of the way or fringe events, or things unusual or plain weird, events that don’t always grab the headlines but are culturally rich. And we found loads of them.

On Sunday July 3, Liverpool’s Churchill Flyover will close in the first of a series of summer takeovers, organised by We Make Places. Over five Sundays until September, the Flyover welcomes artists, musicians, and food makers for a festival of culture and community. This Sunday’s music kicks off at 12.30pm, is programmed by Threshold Festival and features Thom Morecroft, Mersey Wylie, Radio Exotica, fresh from Glastonbury Festival last weekend, and others. The full schedule can be found here.

REVEALED is a new book of black and white photographs of bands and their audiences taken in and around music venues in Liverpool and Manchester between 1977-82 by Francesco Mellina. Mellina will be in conversation and signing copies of the book at Write Blend, Waterloo, Liverpool, on Friday July 8 at 7pm.

There are performances, book releases and launches, exhibitions and from legends, along with people newly making a mark nationally or in the city. We pick out the most intriguing and varied goings on spanning the next four weeks, and beyond.

1. Festival 31: Various venues, June 20 – July 20

FESTIVAL 31 takes place at a number of events through the month, a celebration of arts and culture from refugee communities. Through music, art actions, workshops, poetry, stand up, drama, flashmobs, drumming and film screenings opportunities are offered for discussion and understanding around the refugee experience.

The Visualising Belongness To The Urban Space: Locals and Migrants in Toxteth, Liverpool  exhibition, at the Black-E at 5pm each day, is about the physical environment and everyday life in Toxteth. It aims to enhance our understanding of the way urban dwellers, both locals and migrants, experience belongingness to urban space, and the effect that aesthetics have on this dynamic.

For more information, click here.

2. Dead Belgian play the songs of Jacques Brel: Leaf, July 1

The work of Jacques Brel, the master of the torch song, so bewitching Scott Walker that he covered Brel‘s songs back in 1960s, is given a reworking by Dead Belgian. Brel influenced not only Walker, but David Bowie, Nina Simone and Frank Sinatra. In more recent times his legacy is seen, felt and heard in The Last Shadow Puppets, and Welsh darling Meilyr Jones.

Death, blood, grief, despair, and dark beauty, Brel’s song and performance had them all. Dead Belgian interpret Jacques Brel for a new 21^st century audience.

There is poetry on the night, provided by Dead Good Poets Society, who promote new poetry through performance, and hold events at Garden Café in Blackburne House. The Poetry Open Mic is on the first Wednesday of each month (July 6), and Guest Night plus Open Mic is held on the third Wednesday (July 21).

For more information, click here.

3. An evening with Matthew Todd: Liverpool ONE Waterstones, Liverpool, July 6

The editor of Attitude magazine discusses his book Straight Jacket – How To Be Gay and Happy, a revolutionary guide for the gay and LGBT community on how to build happy, secure lives and relationships.

The book is a rallying call for gay men, the wider LGBT community, their friends and family. It looks beneath the shiny facade of contemporary gay culture and asks if gay people are as happy as they could be – and if not, why not?

For more information, click here.

4. Tromarama: One Park West, July 9-13

A Liverpool Biennial fringe event, the Tromarama exhibition is curated by Ying Tan and presented by the Open Eye Gallery and Edouard Malingue Gallery.

Displayed for the very first time in the UK, Indonesian collective Tromarama consists of Febie Babyrose (aka Baby), Ruddy Hatumena and Herbert Hans (aka Ebet). Established in 2006 and based in Bandung, Indonesia, they have been developing inventive responses to contemporary urban culture spanning multiple media.

Exhibited in the unusual setting of a private residential apartment, the works shown address as well as observe contemporary fluxes surrounding the relationship between reality outside of a screen and the virtual reality inside of it.

For more information, click here.

.5. An Evening With Crime Writer Luca Veste: Liverpool ONE Waterstones, July 28

Merseyside author Luca Veste launches his new book,Then She Was Gone, the fourth in the Murphy and Rossi crime novel series.

Sam Bryne is on course to be elected as one of the youngest MPs in Westminster. He’s tipped for the very top …until he vanishes. Detectives Murphy and Rossi are tasked with discovering what has happened to the popular politician – and in doing so, they unearth a trail that stretches into the past, and crimes that someone is hell-bent on avenging.

At the launch, Veste will be discussing the novel, take questions from the audience, and sign copies.

For more information, click here.

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