Bluecoat JUL - OCT 2018

Liverpool’s centre for the contemporary arts

JUL / AUG / SEP / OCT 2018

Welcome

This season at Bluecoat we are delighted to offer a programme that gives our visitors a range of diverse opportunities to meet and to experience the work of artists. As part of the tenth Liverpool Biennial we host the UK’s largest international visual arts festival, alongside a packed programme of talks, performances, workshops and family activities.

Bluecoat has been involved in Biennial from its beginning in 1999, and this year we host six artists reacting to a world undergoing dramatic change. This global outlook also informs our residency programme, which has recently welcomed artists from Jamaica, Croatia, France and the Ukraine, who have worked alongside our own studio holders. News about upcoming residencies and behind the scenes studio visits can be found on page 7.

Together with Bloomberg New Contemporaries, we are supporting emerging artists from UK art schools with events including a double bill performance night by Rosa-Johan Uddoh and Tom Smith, and a drop in session with Shy Bairns’ Zine Club. We are also working with artists from the city including Jon Davies who leads a summer reading and discussion group with invited thinkers.

There is lots of free artist-led activity for families from our own participation team and guest artists from Blue Room - our programme for adults with learning disabilities - and collaborations with Liverpool Pride and Liverpool Arab Arts

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Festival. A special family day focuses on Biennial artist Ryan Gander who has been commissioned to work with local school children.

Following last year’s 300th birthday of our building, heritage continues to be a key focus, and the popular Heritage Open Days return in September.

We are pleased to support Serena Korda’s National Trust commission at Speke Hall, a multi-faceted sculpture inspired by local folklore. Look out for ceramic mushrooms sprouting in our garden!

We welcome guest authors and dancers to Bluecoat including prize winning Northern poet Andrew McMillan, award winning author Nick Laird, the acclaimed dance artist and choreographer Joe Moran and broadcaster and historian, David Olusoga. With so much on offer it’s an exciting time to be a Bluecoat member as we launch a host of new benefits, details on page 7.

We hope you enjoy our Summer programme, and if you are looking for somewhere to eat and drink our Espresso Café and Upstairs Bistro offer fresh, seasonal menus, while our garden offers a tranquil haven in the heart of the city.

We look forward to welcoming you to Bluecoat.

Exhibitions and Related Events

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Liverpool Biennial Beautiful world, w Abbas Akhavan | Shannon Ebner | Ryan Gander | Silke Otto-Knapp | Suki Seokyeong Kang | Melanie Smith Six international artists are presented as part of Liverpool Biennial, the UK’s largest festival of contemporary art.

Beautiful world, where are you? takes its title from a 1788 poem by Friedrich Schiller that reflects on the turmoil of 18th century Europe. Echoing Schiller, the artists have been asked to respond to a world undergoing dramatic social, political and economic change.

This year, the Liverpool Biennial children’s commission will be shown at Bluecoat. Ryan Gander has worked with children from Knotty Ash Primary School to produce a series of sculptures here and at Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral, using

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self-directed activities and play to open up creative ways of rethinking our environment.

Melanie Smith presents a cinematic study of a changing desert landscape, charting the vast scale of mineral extraction, with glimpses into the history, violence and inhabitants of the oldest salt mine in Chile. Her camera captures a painterly beauty of the isolated desert location, while asking questions about the environment and the relentless spread of industry.

Other works in the exhibition include Abbas Akhavan’s monumental sculpture dealing with the fragility

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2018 where are you?

Sat 14 Jul – Sun 28 Oct Free, open daily (11am-6pm) of material culture in times of war and cultural conflict; Silke Otto-Knapp’s newly commissioned paintings which will wrap around the perimeters of the space, combining figures in group formations with abstract panels; an installation based on traditional Korean musical notation

by Suki Seokyeong Kang; and a combination of new photographic work and spoken poetry by Shannon Ebner.

Liverpool Biennial takes place across the city at Bluecoat, FACT, Open Eye Gallery, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University’s Exhibition Research Lab, St George’s Hall, RIBA North, the Victoria Gallery & Museum (University of Liverpool), Blackburne House and public spaces.

#LB2018 Saturday Curator Tours

Join Bluecoat’s programme staff as they introduce the work of Liverpool Biennial 2018 artists showing here.

Free, drop in Sat 14 Jul 3pm

Adam Smythe, Curator Sat 15 Sep 3pm

Marie-Anne McQuay, Head of Programme Sat 13 Oct 3pm

Bryan Biggs, Artistic Director

For full programme information or to book tickets visit thebluecoat.org.uk or telephone 0151 702 5324

Biennial Events

Sat 14 & Sun 15 Jul 1pm

Suki Seokyeong Kang

On the opening weekend Suki Seokyeong Kang’s installation will be activated by a movement exercise devised by the artist.

After the opening weekend, the activation depends on the participation of the audience.

Free, drop in Sat 14 Jul 1-4pm

Zine Club Shy Bairns Presented by New Contemporaries

Following the launch of the Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2018 exhibition at Liverpool John Moores University, artists’ collective Shy Bairns invite audiences to contribute to an ongoing zine-making session.

Free, drop in Bluecoat is delighted to support the Independents Biennial 2018 - look online for events across the summer with artists from the city region or follow @IndyBiennial for full details.

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Tue 17 Jul 6-8pm Tue 11 & 25 Sep 6-8pm Tue 9 & 23 Oct 6-8pm

Beautiful World reading and discussion group

How do we imagine or understand a ‘Beautiful World’? In a series of five participatory discussion events, Liverpool based artist Jon Davies encourages us to share ideas, texts and conversations. He and invited guests, including artists Diann Bauer, Priya Sharma and Salma Noor, will debate the contemporary moment through four provocations: Defamiliarise, Decolonise, Dehumanise, Deindustrialise.

Tickets £3 per session Fri 21 Sep 6–8.30pm

DOUBLE BILL: Rosa-Johan Uddoh’s The Serve and Tom Smith’s Messages from Friends Co-presented by Bloomberg New Contemporaries, this double bill of performances focuses on two very different artists whose lives and identities have both been shaped by television.

Tickets £4/£3

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Family Events

We’re transforming our family activities at Bluecoat to give you more of what you love! At least once a month you can enjoy activities with a range of guest artists and our Children’s Corner is open every day.

Sat 7 Jul 1-5pm

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival Family Workshops

A day of fun family activities during the UK’s premier annual Arab arts festival. Expect storytelling from the Arab World and exciting hands-on workshops suitable for all.

Free, drop in Sun 29 Jul 11.30am-5pm

Liverpool Pride: Funday Sundae

A day for all the family to enjoy with music, food and free creative activities as Liverpool Pride partners with Bluecoat to celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture. Drop in and join us for a very special SUNDAE! #alltogethernow Free, drop in Sat 18 Aug 1-4pm

Biennial Family Afternoon

Bring the whole family for hands-on activities inspired by Biennial artist Ryan Gander and a family friendly gallery tour.

Free, drop in

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Tue 11 Sep - Tue 13 Nov 9.30–11am

Baby Book Club

This ten week course supports new parents and carers to develop their reading skills and techniques while encouraging babies to engage with books. Suitable for babies aged 3-12 months. £35 for ten sessions, including a hot drink Sat 15 Sep 1-4pm

Heritage Saturday Family Activities

This afternoon of creative activities explores the heritage of our 301 year-old building.

Free, drop in Sat 27 & Sun 28 Oct 1-4pm

Family Weekend

Bluecoat’s popular Family Weekend returns with activities inspired by our Biennial artists, as well as Saturday dance and movement session with artists from Liverpool Improvisation Collective.

Free, drop in

For full programme information or to book tickets visit thebluecoat.org.uk or telephone 0151 702 5324

Heritage

Off-site at Speke Hall Sat 8 Sep - 28 Jul 2019 Open daily 10.30am–4pm

Serena Korda, The Bell Tree

Bluecoat is delighted to be working with artist Serena Korda and Trust New Art, the National Trust’s programme connecting people to places through contemporary art.

Set in Speke Hall’s ancient woodlands and grounds, The Bell Tree draws on the hall’s hidden history, reconsidering aspects of communion and tradition, including underexplored feminist narratives or ‘herstories’ and alternative histories of folklore and witchcraft. The public commission is at Speke Hall, with a smaller element installed in the Bluecoat garden.

Further details at thebluecoat.org.uk.

Speke Hall is free with National Trust Membership Wed 5 Sep

David Olusoga

Bluecoat is delighted to welcome BritishNigerian historian, broadcaster and film-maker David Olusoga. A graduate of Liverpool University, his acclaimed television series A House Through Time, as well as his work around slavery, resonate with the city. Further details, time and tickets at thebluecoat.org.uk

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Sun 9, Fri 14, Sat 15 & Sun 16 Sep

Heritage Open Days

Family activities and behind the scenes tours of Bluecoat, the oldest building in Liverpool’s World Heritage Site. Times and booking details on our website. Free, drop in Sun 9 Sep 1.30pm

My Bluecoat Presentation

In 2017, Bluecoat celebrated 300 years at the heart of Liverpool and a century as the UK’s first arts centre. As we launch our new Heritage Lottery-funded My Bluecoat website, join Artistic Director Bryan Biggs as he explores our fascinating history through this interactive online archive and resource. Further details: mybluecoat.org.uk Free, booking recommended Thu 27 Sep 5-7pm

Wedding Open Night

Come along and see the beautiful Bluecoat, Liverpool’s oldest building, dressed for a wedding. Have a chat with our Wedding Coordinators and discuss your special day with staff. Free, drop in Sat 27 Oct

Lowry Lounge

Our annual celebration of Merseyside Modernist writer Malcolm Lowry (Under the Volcano) this year has a music focus.

See website for times and details.

For full programme information or to book tickets visit thebluecoat.org.uk or telephone 0151 702 5324

Artist Studios, Courses, Fairs

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Print Studio & Bluecoat Display Centre Annual Gardner-Medwin Courses Our print studios offer Lecture in partnership with Bluecoat Tue 16 Oct 6.30-7.30pm

Craft and Design: Friends or Foes? With Alice Rawsthorn Award-winning design critic and author Alice Rawsthorn’s latest book, Design as an Attitude, discusses the book’s topical themes and explores the current resurgence of interest in craft.

Tickets £5/£4 available from the Display Centre website

Studios & Residencies News

Bluecoat is delighted to host an increasing number of national and international residencies as well as offering space to artists from the city and wider North. We have recently been awarded funds by British Council Indonesia to bring early career photographer Nurrachmat Widyasena to Liverpool in January 2019. Meanwhile Bluecoat studio holder Pete Clarke has been selected for the John Moores Painting Prize 2018 and Leo Fitzmaurice has been invited to curate an exhibition for the Walker Art Gallery in September.

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Behind the Scenes Studio Tour: Leo Fitzmaurice & Pete Clarke

Join us for a behind the scenes tour and conversation when artists Leo Fitzmaurice and Pete Clarke invite you into their Bluecoat studios. Free, booking required

Bluecoat Membership

Be the first to hear about events at Bluecoat, get priority booking, plus discounts and exclusive offers including access to behind-the-scenes experiences, a print or poster from our back catalogue, discounts at Espresso Cafe and selected Bluecoat retailers including Kernaghan Books, Relic Art Antiques, and Spellbound Hair and Beauty, plus much more. Visit thebluecoat.org.uk to learn more. fb.com/thebluecoat

Fri 13, Sat 14 Jul 10am-6pm Fri 17, Sat 18 Aug 10am-6pm Fri 21, Sat 22 Sep 10am-6pm Fri 19, Sat 20 Oct 10am-6pm

Book Fair

Sat 1 Sep 1pm

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courses, workshops and individual hire available to anyone interested in exploring the creative possibilities of printmaking, including etching and screen printing. For full listings and to book, visit thebluecoat.org.uk

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Thu 23, Fri 24 & Sat 25 Aug 10am-6pm

Beatles Themed Record Fair Free

Sat 29 Sep 10am-6pm

Comic Book Fair Free

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Dance & Poetry

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22 Jul, 19 Aug, 23 Sept, 14 Oct 1pm and 3pm

Wed 10 Oct 6.30pm

CI Sundays – Contact Improvisation: Open Dance Sessions

Andrew McMillan: playtime

Monthly dance sessions for beginners and those with more experience interested in movement and improvisation. Led by members of Liverpool Improvisation Collective (LIC) who bring over twenty years dance experience to the sessions.

Taught class (1 - 3pm) and/or open jam (3 - 5pm) Class £5/£4; Jam £3; Class & Jam £8/£5 Wed 24 Oct 2-6pm (Gallery) & 7pm (Ticketed performance)

Joe Moran: On The Habit of Being Oneself

Choreographer and artist Joe Moran presents a series of performance interventions in and around the gallery, followed by a full evening work in the Performance Studio. Reconfiguring choreography and the dancing body within the intimate setting of the gallery, this collection of works offers a refreshingly immediate encounter with choreography, dancers and dancing. Dance Art Foundation Artistic Director Joe Moran creates work concerned with dance’s potential as a contemporary art form, both in theatres and galleries; recent and forthcoming performances include Sadler’s Wells (2017), Whitechapel Gallery (2017), Kettle’s Yard (2018) and Wysing Arts Centre (2018).

2-6pm Gallery performances. Free, drop in 7pm Evening performance. Tickets £4/£5

Andrew McMillan’s award-winning debut collection of poems, Physical, was praised for its power and conciseness. For the Liverpool launch of his new compilation playtime, he presents intimate, sometimes painfully frank poems that take us back to childhood and early adolescence, and explore how we grow into our sexual selves and adult identities.

Tickets £4/£3 Wed 17 Oct 6.30pm

Nick Laird: Readings & Conversation

Nick Laird is an acclaimed Northern Irish poet and novelist. Go Giants (2012) further established him in the words of Colm Tóibín as “an assured and brilliant voice in Irish poetry.” His novel Modern Gods (2017) spans between Northern Ireland and Papua New Guinea charting the intimacies and disappointments of a family trying to hold itself together, and the repercussions of history and faith.

Join us for an evening with Laird as he makes his Liverpool literary debut.

Tickets £4/£3

For full programme information or to book tickets visit thebluecoat.org.uk or telephone 0151 702 5324

Diary

Date Event

Jul Aug Sep Oct

Our Core Funders

Project Funders

Project Partners

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Until Sun 28 Oct Liverpool Biennial 2018 2 Exhibition

Beautiful world, where are you?

Sat 7 Jul Liverpool Arab Arts Festival Family Workshops 5 Family Sat 7 / Fri 13 / Sat 14 / Introduction to Etching / Introduction to Screenprint WEB Workshop Sat 21 / Fri 27 / Sat 28 Jul / Printmaking for Beginners / Introduction to Screenprint

/ CMYK Screenprint Fri 13 & Sat 14 Jul Book Fair 7 Fair Fri 17 & Sat 18 Aug Fri 21 & Sat 22 Sep Fri 19 & Sat 20 Oct Sat 14 Jul Zine Club - Shy Bairns 4 Visual Art Sat 14 & Sun 15 Jul Suki Seokyeong Kang 4 Visual Art Sat 14 Jul Curator Tours 3 Exhibition Sat 15 Sep Sat 13 Oct Tue 17 Jul Beautiful World Reading and Discussion Group 4 Exhibition Tue 11 & 25 Sep Tue 9 & 23 Oct Tuesdays Talking Poetry WEB Literature 17 Jul / 18 Sep / 16 Oct Sat 21 Jul Funny Looking Kids Comedy Club WEB Family Sat 22 Sep Sat 20 Oct Sundays 22 Jul / 19 Aug CI Sundays - Contact Improvisation: 8 Dance / 23 Sep / 14 Oct Open Dance Sessions Sun 29 Jul Liverpool Pride: Funday Sundae 5 Family Sat 4 / Fri 10 / Sat 11 / Introduction to Screenprint / Introduction to Etching WEB Workshop Sat 18 / Fri 24 / Sat 25 Aug / Printmaking for Beginners / Introduction to Screenprint

/ Intermediate Screenprint Sat 18 Aug Biennial Family Afternoon 5 Family Thu 23, Fri 24 & Sat 25 Aug Beatles Themed Record Fair 7 Fair Sat 1 Sep Behind the Scenes Studio Tour: 7 Visual Art

Leo Fitzmaurice & Pete Clarke Sat 1 / Fri 7 / Sat 8 / Sat 15 / Introduction to Screenprint / Introduction to Etching WEB Workshop Fri 21 / Sat 22 Sep / Introduction to Screenprint / Printmaking for Beginners

/ Introduction to Screenprint / CMYK Screenprint Wed 5 Sep David Olusoga 6 Heritage Sat 8 Sep until 28 Jul 2019 Serena Korda - The Bell Tree at Speke Hall 6 Visual Art Sun 9, Fri 14, Sat 15 & Sun 16 Sep Heritage Open Days 6 Heritage Tue 11 Sep - 13 Nov Baby Book Club 5 Family Sat 15 Sep Heritage Saturday Family Activities 5 Heritage Fri 21 Sep DOUBLE BILL: Rosa-Johan Uddoh’s The Serve 4 Visual Art

and Tom Smith’s Messages from Friends Thu 27 Sep Wedding Open Night 6 Fair Sat 29 Sep Comic Book Fair 7 Fair Sat 6 / Fri 12 / Sat 13 / Introduction to Screenprint / Introduction to Linocut WEB Workshop Sat 20 / Fri 26 / Sat 27 Oct / Introduction to Screenprint / Printmaking for Beginners

/ Introduction to Screenprint / Intermediate Screenprint Wed 10 Oct Andrew McMillan: playtime 8 Literature Fri 12 Oct Liverpool Mental Health Festival 2018 WEB Festival Tue 16 Oct Bluecoat Display Centre Annual Gardner-Medwin 7 Heritage

Lecture in Partnership with Bluecoat Wed 17 Oct Nick Laird: Readings and Conversation 8 Literature Wed 24 Oct Joe Moran: On The Habit of Being Oneself 8 Dance Sat 27 Oct Lowry Lounge 6 Heritage Sat 27 & Sun 28 Oct Family Weekend 5 Family

A special thank you to all our Supporters, Members and Patrons for their generous support.

Image credits: Cover: Suki Seokyeong Kang, Moras on the Black Mat, 2014-2016. Image courtesy the artist. | Page 1: Abbas Akhavan, Variations on Ghost, 2017. Installation view.

Image courtesy the artist and Villa Stuck, Munich. Photo: Jann Averwerser. | Page 4: Suki Seokyeong Kang, Jeong ¼, 2011-2015. Image courtesy the artist. | Page 5: Ryan Gander, Time Moves Quickly (workshop), 2018. Brian Roberts Photography. | Page 6: Sunderland Sound Mirror, Chris Egon Searle. | Page 7: Pop-Up-Duets (fragments of love) Brian Roberts Photography | Page 8: Brian Roberts Photography

Opening Hours Building & Espresso cafe: Mon - Sat 9am - 6pm Sun 11am - 6pm

Tickets & Information Gallery: Daily 11am - 6pm Upstairs Bistro: Tues - Sat 12-4pm Sun & Mon Closed

Look out for pop-up evening events on our website.

Bluecoat is a registered charity: 700862

Telephone: 0151 702 5324 info@thebluecoat.org.uk Online: thebluecoat.org.uk fb.com/thebluecoat

Address Bluecoat, School Lane Liverpool L1 3BX @thebluecoat @the_bluecoat