So what is this? My name is Pete Carr. I’m a photographer based in Liverpool. In May 2006 I visited Toronto for 3 weeks. I came away feeling like that was a true “Capital of Culture.” They don’t have a scheduled year for when the spotlight hits them, where they can show off all their culture. Its just a fantastic place to be. Local photographers put on exhibitions all the time. Photobloggers have regular meet ups as Toronto has one of, if not the biggest photoblogging community in the world. Photography there is celebrated and not looked on as a crime as it is becoming so in the UK. The creators of New Mind Space have the freedom to express themselves in some fantastic ways. They decorated Queen Street on Feburary 14th with hearts and love messages just to make people feel happy the next day. They’ve had giant bubble battles, city wide games of capture the flag and massive Easter Egg hunts. There has been large groups of people hugging in public spaces just because they can.
Could this be done in the UK’s Capital of Culture? Of course, why not? The council are currently uprooting the city to turn things into their vision of a capital of culture. Why shouldn’t the people play with the city in a similar way? I’ve seen one instance of Flash mobbing in Liverpool city centre but it was quite small. What we need are large scale projects to make people see that Liverpool culture exists outside of anyone else’s brand. Why should public art be limited to the Biennial? On other days why should it be locked up inside galleries?
If you want your photos to show up on the main page’s flickr box, tag them with “rawliver” and they might show up. It takes the latest 4 images.
If you’re looking to arrange a public art event, like a flashmob or some form of large scale urban exploration, please get in touch so I can list it on the site.