Hi there
From 2005 the European City Of Culture title will change to European
Capital Of Culture and will rotate among the EU's 15 member states.
The year 2008 has been allocated as the UK's turn to host the title
and competition is already hotting up between 14 cities hoping to take
it on. The winning city can look forward to welcoming thousands who
will visit its attractions, eat in the restaurants, stay in the hotels
and spend money in shops. There is stiff competition from around the
UK. Favourites include Newcastle and Gateshead, Liverpool, Bradford,
Brighton and Bristol with Bath. A shortlist of five will be drawn up
by a Department of Culture, Media and Sport judging panel at the end
of this year. The five will be rewarded with a Centre Of Culture award
and will go forward to a final judging stage.
Liverpool is seen as having a strong bid based on a musical heritage
going back to the Beatles, plus visual arts and literature, and the
official site makes much of the reasons why the award should be going
to Liverpool
Let’s have a look at some of the reasons they give, and some of the
reality behind it.
PEOPLE
They say: Creative and energetic people - friendly, inclusive and
welcoming. Strong youth culture. Diversity in harmony - long
established African, Caribbean, Chinese & Irish communities. Truly
multi-cultural.
The reality can be different. It is only twenty years since Toxteth
erupted in racially motivated riots and the recent housing of refugees
in the city has caused further tensions to erupt. There’s a
thought-provoking article here
(http://www.peoplenotprofit.co.uk/campaigns_landmark.htm ) which
details some of the tensions, and the poverty and urban deprivation
that will also be hard to ignore if the bid goes ahead.
HERITAGE
They say: From an internationally recognised waterfront to St George’s
Hall, Liverpool has some of the finest architecture in the world. It
has the largest concentration of grade I and II listed buildings and
public sculpture outside London.
The reality is that they have spruced up large parts of the city, but
others are still a vast sprawl of urban, graffiti strewn wasteland,
and much of the vaunted heritage has been bulldozed into the ground
long ago. And along the canal and docksides the area has been
"gentrified" and "prettified", but often to the detriment of the
industrial heritage that is so proudly vaunted in the bid.
ARTS
They say: Liverpool’s nine world-class museums and galleries are
jewels in our cultural crown. The Philharmonic, theatres and festivals
including the UK’s only Biennial, Africa Oye, The Mathew Street
Festival and Video Positive mean that you know you are in a cultural
capital.
This is all well and good, but other contenders have far stronger arts
pedigrees, such as Bath, and Bristol. And when you think of Liverpool,
is art the thing that springs to mind?
SPORTS
They say: Liverpool is the only bidding city with two premiership
football clubs. Host to the world’s greatest steeplechase and boasting
huge community participation in sports development programmes,
Liverpool sets the standard in gymnastics, boxing, football, tennis,
swimming and athletics.
Again, all very well, but mention Liverpool and people think football,
or horse racing, neither of which are considered "cultural" pursuits
CITY LIFE
They say: Unrivalled night life coupled with an amazing choice of
shops, hotels, restaurants and bars. From the Hope Street Quarter to
the Waterfront, from Chinatown to the Cavern Quarter Liverpool is a
city that knows how to party!
And partying could be the problem. Weekends in the town centre are an
assault course where you have to avoid young drunks, vomit, fast-food
cartons (empty and full) and the marauding parties of football fans.
And is the night-life in Liverpool really more cultured than say
Bath/Bristol, or Brighton? ....although it's probably got a lead over
Newcastle :)
FAITH
They say: The natural optimism amongst Liverpool people has been
driven by the shared spirit to overcome tragedy, disaster and
oppression. Our spectacular Cathedrals and a Muslim community covering
up to 45 nationalities demonstrates commitment to faith.
But the truth is, faith is a dwindling commodity all over the UK at
the moment, and Liverpool is no different. Big cathedrals and churches
are very impressive, but they are usually half-empty.
MUSIC
They say: Liverpool is the Guinness Book of Record’s "Pop Capital of
the World" and continues to dominate the international music scene.
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is Classic FM’s orchestra
of the North West.
The truth is everybody will be thinking about "The Beatles". When it
comes to music Liverpool is seen as living on past glories, and
although they say it does, I cannot remember it "dominating the
international music scene" in recent years.
HUMOUR
They say: In Liverpool humour is a natural commodity, from the cab
driver (or sit down comedian) and the barman to the great comedians
(Askey, Handley, Dodd). The most loved TV personalities whether Cilla,
Jimmy, Ricky, Lily or Johnny draw on a special talent which warms the
heart of the audience.
But Northern humour is an acquired taste, and Liverpudlians even more
so - take Tarbuck for example (please). A lot of non-Liverpudlians
associate Liverpool humour with Harry Enfield and the three "permed
drunks" who fight all the time. Very cultural I’m sure.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the city. And I also loved Glasgow back in
the early 80’s - I lived there when it went through it. They spruced
the place up for six months, everybody ooohed and aaahed at how nice
it looked, then the locals went back to howling abuse at each other
across football grounds. And Liverpool has always reminded me of
Glasgow. Big, monolithic, steadfastly Victorian in outlook, with its
prime assets being the warmth of its people, not the cultural
activities that only a fraction of those people participate in.
Roger Hill - Liverpool educator and performer made this trenchant
comment
"A Liverpool in living connection with the World? Or an isolated
town-ship with narrow prejudices? A Pop city or a Trash city? A whole
city, or a city perpetually divided by race, religion, geography?
Hollywood East and Design Central or a cheap stop-over for the
image-makers? City of Learning or the Home of the Hangover? Everything
seems in dispute here. Liverpool, a debatable city with a debatable
culture indeed."
Hope that helps
Willie
The official "City of Culture" site
http://www.liverpoolculture.com/introduction/welcome.html
Roger Hill’s comment came from a longer piece on his opinion on
Liverpool 2008 at
Liverpool Culture 2008
http://www.liverpoolculture.com/introduction/culture_02.html |
