Culture Diary w/c 10-02-2025
Our pick of this week’s arts, design, film and music events from across Liverpool and beyond…
Monday – Exhibition Continues: The Plant That Stowed Away @ Tate Liverpool – FREE
The Plant That Stowed Away brings together Tate collection works to speak to the global movements of flora, positioning Liverpool as a starting point. Featuring works by Wirral-born photographer Chris Shaw, and Atkinson Grimshaw’s Liverpool Quay by Moonlight, alongside an international cast of artists including Cristina de Middel, Kader Attia and Wangechi Mutu, it speaks to post-industrialisation, colonisation, and migration.
Tuesday – New: Farah Al Qasimi: Everybody was Invited to a Party @ the Bluecoat – FREE
The Bluecoat’s exploration of how language might manifest and be interrogated in a gallery setting continues with Farah Al Qasimi’s Everybody was Invited to a Party, which takes as its departure point Iftah Ya Simsim. Translating as Open Sesame, Iftah Ya Simsim was the first international co-production of Sesame Street in the Arab world. Featuring hand-sewn puppets, in Al Qasimi’s hands, it proposes to scrutinise breakdowns in language and meaning, and the ensuing melancholy and humour that can produce.
Midnight Cowboy 1pm (and 8pm Wednesday) @ FACT Liverpool – £8.50
John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy encompasses male prostitution, unlikely friendship and – ultimately – tragedy. Starring John Voight and Dustin Hoffman in career-defining roles, it spawned the iconic line “I’m walking here! I’m walking here!” ad-libbed by Hoffman’s Rizzo; by the end of the picture, New York has rarely looked less glamorous.
Wednesday – New Season Openings @ Williamson Art Gallery & Museum – FREE
A new season opens today at Birkenhead’s Williamson following a closure stretching back to December. An unusually long fallow period, yes, but with an offer including painting (war artist Albert Richards; Birkenhead-born Philip Wilson Steer), photography from Marge Bradshaw’s Level Playing Field, a project foregrounding trans and non-binary footballers (below), installation and more, those returning to the gallery can reasonably expect to find something for them in store.
Thursday – Portrait of a Lady on Fire 7.50pm @ FACT Liverpool – £8.50
When Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire won the Queer Palm at Cannes, jurors were quick to point out that “above all,” it is “an incredible film for cinema” full stop. All who have seen it are inclined to agree. Telling a tale of desire between a painter and her subject in late 18th century France, this “period piece with a distinctly modern feminist sensibility” stokes the fires of the coming Valentine’s Day.
Friday – Picnic at Hanging Rock 8.15pm @ FACT Liverpool – £8.50
Heady fever dream and nightmare both, Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock presents a story of the nuances and mystery of burgeoning womanhood. He does so through the lens of Australian boarding school girls, exploring the titular ancient rock formation only to vanish without trace. That the disappearance occurred on Valentine’s Day makes this a perfect, wyrd antidote, to a myriad other films you night choose to watch with your significant other – today or any other.
Saturday – Exhibitions Opening: Ding Yi: Between Prediction and Retrospection; Vanessa da Silva: Roda Viva @ Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno – FREE
Llandudno’s Mostyn Gallery boasts a rich and varied programme to rival many a bigger institution. From Anj Smith’s paintings of the Anthropocene to Cerith Wyn Evans’ sculpture, and the multi-disciplinary Noémie Goudal, their dedication to a model based on bringing great international contemporary art to North Wales has clearly paid off. The opening this weekend of Chinese abstract artist Ding Yi, alongside the sculptural forms of Brazil’s Vanessa da Silva, looks set to continue that success.
Bluecoat Archive Drop In Day 11am @ the Bluecoat, Liverpool – FREE
A rare opportunity to peer behind the veil of Liverpool’s oldest city centre building and the UK’s first arts centre via the Bluecoat archive, which contains photos, exhibition posters and programmes, architectural drawings and more.
Sunday – Closing Soon: Conversations @ the Walker Art Gallery, until 9 March – FREE
This trailblazing exhibition demands a changing of the narratives of contemporary British art. Featuring Black women and non-binary artists (including Lubaina Himid, Sumuyya Khader, Nnena Kalu and many more), Conversations addresses themes such as Power, Identity and Histories.
Mike Pinnington
Images/media, from top: The Plant That Stowed Away installation view © Tate (Gareth Jones); Chris Shaw; Midnight Cowboy trailer; Level Playing Field © Marge Bradshaw; Picnic at Hanging Rock trailer
