In the realm of the visual arts, Liverpool holds the distinction of boasting more museums and art galleries than any other UK city bar London. Like its London namesake, the Tate Liverpool, one of the many cultural landmarks in the city, is one of the most famous galleries in Europe. It is home to the National Collection of Modern Art in the North and plays host to a number of exhibitions that bring together art works loaned by both international galleries and private collectors from around the world. This includes works by 18th and 19th century artists such as Paul Sandby, John Sell Cotman and Peter De Wint, as well as the soon to be displayed works of forty contemporary artists commissioned to create works depicting Liverpool for the upcoming Biennial. The city has provided enormous inspiration for centuries’ worth of artists.
Musically, Liverpool has also proven to be a veritable hotbed of creativity. Holding the record as it does, for producing more chart-topping number one artists than any other city in the United Kingdom, the Beatles notwithstanding. The next time you find yourself singing along to the tunes of Echo and the Bunnymen, Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark, The Christians or Frankie Goes To Hollywood, with their now classic version of Ferry across the Mersey – think Liverpool.
The city also holds its own in terms of the literary arts. It is the birthplace of world-renowned authors such as Ramsey Campbell, hailed as Britain’s most respected living horror writer. Willy Russell whose now famous plays Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine are considered classic British theatre and classic British film. Revered poet Roger Mcgough of Out Of Sequence fame. And Alan Bleasedale, who with works such as Boys From Blackstuff and Scully has long been considered one of the most influential writers working in British television today.
Yet despite these and many other accolades, Liverpool has for a long time been introduced as London’s poorer cousin when it came to matters of culture – but this title is now finally becoming obsolete. The nation’s efforts at urban regeneration have benefited the city well, and it was recently named ‘European Capital Of Culture 2008’ ahead of strong competition.
When the announcement was made that Liverpool had won the coveted title, David Henshaw, Chief executive of the Liverpool City Council announced that this was what would make Liverpool a true European Capital of Culture and the city will be forever changed because of it. And so we hold our breath and look towards what is to come in 2008.
What has occurred already includes the implementation of innumerable planning strategies across many spectrums, one of which, was the choosing of who would lead the way into this capital-of-culture-terrain.
And with the intricate political, economic, social and of course parametres in mind, the responsibility for the artistic direction of the city’s re-emergence as a cultural epicentre is great. The job has been given to renowned Australian performer and Artistic Director of many arts festivals including the world famous international Melbourne Arts Festival, Ms Robyn Archer.
What – an antipodean you say? Why a foreigner? Well for those unfamiliar with her work, Ms Archer is something of a renaissance woman in artistic circles. As a singer, writer, artistic director, political activist and public advocate of the arts, her influence in these many spheres is international in scope. And perhaps her renaissance-like link to the regenerated Liverpool is more aligned than first seems.
To many European arts afficionados, Archer is primarily known as one of the world’s foremost exponents of German cabaret songs. In this role, she has entertained audiences across the globe with her renditions of Brecht, Weill and Eisler, prompting a resurgent popular interest in an art form that had fallen somewhat into obscurity in its original form. And she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2000 and a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2001 for her efforts.
She is the creator of such well-known stage successes as A Star Is Torn and has performed to sell-out crowds in roles such as Tonight Lola Blau and The Seven Deadly Sins. As a performer, Archer is no stranger to taking artistic risks. At the recent Adelaide Cabaret Festival held in Australia, the unveiling of her new show Whispering, a piece in which she sang a single song, nightly for audiences comprising of one person that she singled out, challenged the traditional idea of performing to a crowd dynamic. Archer explained at the time that the work was ‘an idea I had of a very intimate kind of delivery… It was more amazing than I’d imagined it could be, a performer exchanging the applause of two thousand or ten thousand, as I’ve played to, for something much more human and personal. It was really overwhelming…
In the role of Artistic Director for the International Melbourne Arts Festival in Australia, over the last three years, Archer has had her fair share of resounding successes. In creating this festival, known as it is for show-casing some of the most groundbreaking and innovative talents from around the world, Archer has honed the skill base that was in large part instrumental to her being appointed to the position of Artistic Director for ‘European Capital Of Culture 2008’.
David Henshaw, Chief Executive of Liverpool city council and the Liverpool Culture Company said when the appointment was announced:
‘Robyn has consistently shown herself to be an artist of high international reputation and an artistic director capable of bringing the world to one city and making a deep impression on those who live here. Her contacts in the arts world and her eye for commissioning stunning works will be of immense benefit to the city.
‘She has delivered exceptional international festivals in the Southern Hemisphere and will no doubt relish the challenge to help shape Europe’s biggest cultural festival of the decade in Liverpool in 2008.’
And so came similar praise from across the country. From Graham Shefield, Artistic Director of the Barbican Centre, to Sir Christopher Frayling, Arts Council England Chair, to Michael Eakin, Executive Director Arts Council England, North West it seems that Robyn Archer was the ‘outstanding candidate’ as Liverpool Council Leader Mike Storey said.
Without doubt creating any major arts event with a dual national and international scope requires many skills. Not only an understanding of the artistic processes involved, but also the ability to keep a firm focus on all the facets that are part of producing a successful event, be they financial, creative or political. In discussing her appointment as Artistic Director of European Capital Of Culture 2008, Archer noted that while she will dip her toe in the water in 2006, the real work will begin in 2007, when the city will celebrate its 800th birthday. Archer has been given the responsibility of programming an entire year of cultural activity, taking her, as she said, out of her comfort zone, because unlike her previous festival experience, this is the first time she will oversee what she calls ‘a big season approach’.
Archer was also quick to point out that rather than being viewed as an award, the title of European Capital Of Culture was looked upon by the city and its people as more of a scholarship. According to Archer, ’Everything is heading towards the twenty years after 2008 – it being absolutely, unashamedly about urban regeneration through arts and culture’.
When asked if her work in Liverpool is expected to have a distinctly continental flavour, reminiscent of her days singing Brecht and Weill, Archer said that first and foremost, the main agenda was that of promoting Liverpool, its existing riches and future artistic growth. She felt that her work needed to start with what the city already had to offer as a cultural city, and with this starting point, the rest would surely follow.
And what does she think of the city that is soon to become her main stomping ground? Robyn Archer’s praise of Liverpool was not surprisingly, fulsome, noting that for a city of approximately 500,000 people it had a phenomenal visual arts collection, club scene and community of artists.
‘The palette is enormous,’ she enthused. ‘It’s a very colourful one [that] you can easily work from and do great things with’. She then pointed out that those who had chosen her for the job of Artistic Director wanted somebody that had many international connections and an idea about what’s going on in the world of arts. And this is Robyn Archer to a tee. She is also someone who has a clear idea of where Liverpool is heading. As she points out, Liverpool is a cultural centre which would be able to successfully hold its own against New York, Paris and Vienna as a world leader and artistic base for future generations.
The opposite of this, as she eloquently concludes, would be a great disappointment to everyone – herself included. ‘It’s like fireworks that are beautiful and then gone. They are great fun when they happen but what do you show afterwards? I know that everyone’s focus is on 2008 and beyond and that’s where I come in’.
This is a challenge Robyn Archer is more then keen to tackle, and one which, when looking to her past achievements, she will more than likely surpass, leading Liverpool into the next phase of its cultural journey.
