Liverpool Biennial 2025: BEDROCK – Previewed

“A Biennial that could only be created in Liverpool.” Curated by Marie-Anne McQuay and bearing the reassuring subtitle, BEDROCK, 2025′s edition looks to be full of promise, says Mike Pinnington… 

You may have noticed recently the banners around town announcing the forthcoming Liverpool Biennial. No longer a blip on the horizon, the 2025 edition is almost upon us (opening, as it does, on 7 June).

Correspondingly, many of the city’s anchor galleries currently lie largely empty; fleetingly, these are in-between spaces, awaiting fresh impetus and identities. The job of adorning their walls and other surfaces with artworks (including 22 new commissions) from an international cast of 30 artists and collectives, if not already well underway, will soon begin.

People and conversations will hopefully follow soon thereafter. This time around, it is the subtitle (would a biennial even be worthy of the name without one?) of BEDROCK that will dictate the tone – one that, while not perhaps setting the heart a-flutter, implies depth, solidity, a base on which to build. A good foundation from which to start.

Biennial schedules are notoriously punishing, of course. The cycle of having to programme and produce an all new city-wide festival of contemporary arts every two years – with a new curator at the helm and, often, fresh-faced new team to match – can take its toll. But, in key ways, this feels like a Liverpool Biennial long in the making.

Director, Sam Lackey, in post since picking up the reigns of the difficult pandemic edition in 2021, selected as its curator this time around Marie-Anne McQuay. Crucially, and unusually for a Liverpool Biennial curator, McQuay has a longstanding association with the city, its galleries and, importantly, the people here. For many years, she oversaw activities at the Bluecoat, a time during which she forged and fostered relationships with many of Liverpool and the wider region’s cultural players – not least, its artists. Relationships, then, haven’t all had to be made from scratch this time.

Of preparations, McQuay has said: “The city’s geological foundations and its psyche have provided the starting point, with the invited artists bringing us their own definition of ‘BEDROCK’.” One such artist is Amber Akaunu, the co-founder and editor of ROOT-ed Zine. Born in Liverpool, she recently exhibited in Conversations, an exhibition showcasing Black women and non-binary artists at the Walker. As with the appointment of its curator, it’s similarly unusual (and refreshing) to see a local included in their city biennial; in any case, Akaunu is very much a welcome, logical inclusion.

Central to the understanding of BEDROCK, McQuay continued, “is the sense of loss that comes from the ongoing legacies of colonialism and empire so formative to Liverpool’s foundations.” Of course, you’d expect a biennial (whether that be Liverpool, Helsinki, Kassel’s documenta or anywhere else) to be in close conversation with its host; this hasn’t always been the case – a perennial criticism of the model.

But BEDROCK will represent the third Liverpool Biennial in a row to tackle head on the city’s colonial past. This time, this will likely represent but one element of interrogation. Lackey said: “This festival deliberately explores and visibly exposes the foundations of Liverpool, connecting international artists with our histories, people and the very ground we walk on.” Working with McQuay, she highlighted, allows for the possibility of “digging deeper into the things that make us a Biennial that could only be created in Liverpool.”

The festival takes place in venues across the city – many, such as Tate Liverpool, National Museums Liverpool, FACT, Bluecoat and Open Eye Gallery, are familiar stop-offs. But, as usual – and something I think always provides added value – work will pop up in unexpected places, too.  New sites include 20 Jordan Street, located in the Baltic Triangle; China Town Heritage site, Pine Court; and the much loved arts and community centre, The Black-E, is back in the fold. In addition, outdoor works will punctuate city streets and the public realm, from Liverpool ONE and Mann Island to St John’s Gardens and the grounds of The Oratory at Liverpool Cathedral.

With foundations laid by McQuay – a safe pair of hands whose knowledge of contemporary art is both local and global – we approach BEDROCK with enthusiasm. See you on the other side!

Mike Pinnington 

Liverpool Biennial 2025 begins 7 June. You can register now for previews and opening programme on 5 and 6 June

Images: BEDROCK Ident (top); Home page: Ana Navas, Fauteuil, 2024, courtesy tegenboschvanvreden Amsterdam and SperlingMunich. Photographyby René Korten for PARK Tilburg