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ARTISTS , CREATIVES AND DREAMERS – THIS IS LIVERPOOL CALLING …
The first plans for a major cultural festival to take place alongside Eurovision have been announced and artists and creatives from all competing nations are encouraged to get involved .
It ’ s a little over a month since Liverpool was named as the 2023 host city for the Eurovision Song Contest , staging the global event on behalf of Ukraine .
The internationally-renowned Culture Liverpool team has now begun to make its winning bid a reality by issuing a call out to artists , creatives , makers , musicians and performers for ideas towards creating an inclusive , thought-provoking , entertaining and diverse cultural festival in the lead up to May ’ s main event .
The festival will include a series of commissions , events and installations which will celebrate UK music , Eurovision and most importantly , act as a platform for showcasing modern Ukraine – an ambitious , progressive country .
The commissioning call out is in three categories :
UK and Ukraine These commissions will bring together Ukrainian and UKbased artists and producers to collaborate on creating new projects which capture the ambition and energy of modern Ukraine . Artists can come from any discipline , although there is a particular interest in large-scale outdoor works and installations .
Each commission must bring together a Ukrainian artist , creative or collective with a UK counterpart . Applications from Ukrainian nationals living in Ukraine or outside of the UK are welcome , and support will be given to match those individuals with a UK collaborator .
Music United These commissions will celebrate the power of music to bring communities together . They will encapsulate the joy and congregation which music can bring across boundaries , ages and backgrounds .
Eurovision in Liverpool These commissions will be a celebration of the joy , diversity of spirit , plurality of opinion and sheer fabulousness of Eurovision taking place in the heart of the UK ’ s most exciting city . They may draw on the history of the competition , or look to its future , or simply revel in what it stands for .
Anyone interested must :
• Have a history of creating high quality work of scale , ambition and accessibility .
• Be willing to work in collaboration with other artists and producers .
• Deliver breathtaking work in a short timeframe .
• Applications are welcome from creatives who live in the nations competing in Eurovision 2023 and in particular from artists from Ukraine and from the Liverpool City Region .
The deadline for expressions of interest is 12.00 noon Monday 12 December 2022 . Those successful in this first stage will be given an initial £ 2k funding to formally develop their proposal . The Cultural Festival has been made possible through support from the Department for Digital , Culture , Media & Sport , and will include partners the Ukrainian Institute and British Council in the commissioning process .
For full details and information on how to apply , visit the Culture Liverpool website . Information about Liverpool ’ s plans for the Eurovision education and community programmes will be announced in the new year . merseylife . com 13