We believe that our festival should be a Biennial for Everyone, providing a programme of groundbreaking, intriguing, and free art for all
Liverpool Biennial presents a 14-week festival of contemporary art that takes place every two years, underpinned by a year-round programme of work with schools, community partners and other arts organisations. Our approach is underlined by a simple principle – we believe that art fosters unique connections between people, places and moments, and that everyone should have the chance to experience it.
Liverpool Biennial is proud to bring international audiences, artists and art to the city of Liverpool. Our work connects us to the world, whether those ties are across Liverpool City Region, nationally, or beyond, and brings together people from every walk of life.
Artworks in our Biennial programme are visible for 14 weeks across various exhibition sites; however, each commission has been in development for much longer. Over each two-year period, we work hard to connect artists with local communities and partners to ensure projects are resolutely built on, with, and informed by, Liverpool.
Artists presented at Liverpool Biennial 2025 ‘BEDROCK’ come from over 18 countries and much of their work draws on their own heritage and culture, creating connections with communities in Liverpool.
For Liverpool Biennial 2025, Alice Rekab developed a project that explores hybrid identities, traditions and migration, informed by their personal experiences of Irish, Black and multi-heritage family life. Rekab worked with students from City of Liverpool College and artists Tobi Balogun, Maïa Nunes and Aisling-Ór Ní Aodha – all of whom have personal or familial connections to migration – to deliver a series of workshops.
Tobi Balogun delivering workshops, as part of Alice Rekab’s LB2025 commission, March 2025. Photography by Rob Battersby.
The workshops celebrated notions of identity with the students, allowing them the space to reflect and slow down. They shared stories about their heritage and culture through personal belongings, and explored self-expression through dance, language and voice.
Tobi Balogun delivering workshops, as part of Alice Rekab’s LB2025 commission, March 2025. Photography by Rob Battersby.
These workshops inspired a new outdoor artwork for Liverpool ONE. Feedback from the students revealed the positive impact the activity had on them:
“I have been in this country for 5 years now. That whole time I have not danced…[the workshop] was the first time I moved my body…[the] first time I danced to music in this country. I realised how much I missed it and how much joy it brings me.”
“I closed my eyes and slowed right down. I felt my breathing and listened to my mind…It was good to slow down. When I opened my eyes, I felt like I could see. That I had eyes to be creative and it inspired me to listen to my mind and know I have good ideas”
We believe that our festival should be a Biennial for Everyone, providing a programme of groundbreaking, intriguing, and free art for all.
Now, more than ever due to rising costs, we need your help to raise funds to deliver projects, like Alice’s, which connect international artists with Liverpool.
Help keep Liverpool Biennial free, for you and everyone. We ask those who can, to donate.