Liverpool Biennial launches the full programme for its 12th edition, taking  place from 10 June – 17 September 2023. Titled ‘uMoya: The Sacred Return of Lost  Things’, the Biennial festival is curated by Khanyisile Mbongwa with Director Dr  Samantha Lackey and the Liverpool Biennial Team. 

Taking over historic buildings, unexpected spaces and art galleries, Liverpool  Biennial – the UK’s largest free festival of contemporary visual art – has been  transforming the city through art for over two decades. New venues and sites announced for the 12th edition include historic buildings Tobacco Warehouse  and Cotton Exchange, and retail and leisure destination Liverpool ONE, which join  leading arts venues such as Tate Liverpool, Bluecoat, FACT Liverpool, Open Eye Gallery, Victoria Gallery and Museum and World Museum. A dynamic  programme of free exhibitions, performances, screenings, community and learning  activities and fringe events unfolds over 14 weeks, shining a light on the city’s vibrant  cultural scene. 

The artists at Open Eye Gallery highlight Western exploitative practices related to  the extraction and destruction of natural resources in African countries. Work by David Aguacheiro and Rahima Gambo is presented alongside a new iteration of Sandra Suubi’s performance installation ‘Samba Gown’. 

‘uMoya: The Sacred Return of Lost Things’ addresses the history and temperament  of the city of Liverpool and is a call for ancestral and indigenous forms of knowledge,  wisdom and healing. In the isiZulu language, ‘uMoya’ means spirit, breath, air,  climate and wind. 

Edgar Calel, Guadalupe Maravilla, and Lubaina Himid join the list of participating  artists that includes Brook Andrew, Charmaine Watkiss, Gala Porras-Kim, Julien  Creuzet, Raisa Kabir, Nicholas Galanin, Torkwase Dyson and Unmute Dance  Theatre amongst others. A series of outdoor works will be installed across the city  including a large-scale neon by Brook Andrew at Stanley Dock, an installation by  Rudy Loewe at Liverpool ONE, and a major new sculptural work by Ranti Bam presented in St Nicholas Church Gardens. 

Khanyisile Mbongwa, Curator, Liverpool Biennial 2023, said: 

“We invite visitors to surrender to the currents of uMoya, to lend themselves to its  flow, allowing the artists’ work to be a compass, guiding them through the Biennial.  To enter the city of Liverpool as a site where something productive can happen, as  the port city opens itself up to be excavated – laying bare its history of colonialism,  role in the trade of enslaved people and the making of the British Empire. 

The artists unpack catastrophe by engaging with histories of extraction (people,  resources, objects); they re-read cartography by engaging with histories of mapping  (trade, architecture, town planning, street naming, public sculptures and  monuments); and propose healing by engaging with movements of undoing violence, ‘unholding’ the suffering and centering repair work. Finally, they turn to aliveness by  engaging with the human right to be alive and live.” 

Dr Samantha Lackey, Director, Liverpool Biennial, said: 

“I believe that ‘uMoya: The Sacred Return of Lost Things’ will be a beautiful and  deeply felt festival across the city – that will both connect to Liverpool’s colonial past  but also uncover possibilities for repair, healing and joy in its future. Khanyisile Mbongwa has brought together perspectives, thinking – and importantly – feeling, from across the globe which will help us see the world we are living in today  from different viewpoints.  

We look forward to welcoming regional, national and international visitors to the  festival and are excited to expand our reach across the city centre this year, bringing Liverpool Biennial to the North Docks. We are grateful to our curator Khanyisile  Mbongwa and our 2023 artists for their passion and imagination and are especially  thankful to our partner venues and funders for their support in bringing the festival to  life.” 

ONLINE TALKS PROGRAMME: RADIKAL SELF LOVE 

An online series of conversations titled ‘Radikal Self Love’ will take place in the lead  up to the festival, providing an insight into the ways artists practice self-care during  the creative process. 

Featuring Gala Porras-Kim, Sandra Suubi and Antonio Obá, each event will take the  form of a conversation led by Khanyisile Mbongwa. 

Event dates: 

30 March 2023, 7pm GMT: Gala Porras-Kim 

20 April 2023, 7pm GMT: Sandra Suubi 

18 May 2023, 7pm GMT: Antonio Obá 

Sign up for the first event with Gala Porras-Kim here. 

PUBLIC PROGRAMME 

A public programme of free events will take place across the 14-week festival in  three stages, creating a triangle intended to mirror the journeys undertaken during  the transatlantic trade in enslaved people. The three stages are: The Opening Door  (focused on live performances and public installations), The Middle Passage  (dedicated to movement, film and moving image) and The Reflective Return (centred  around artist talks and music). 

Advance booking is required for some events. Further details, including event  timings, locations and accessibility information will be announced in the coming  weeks.  

The Opening Door 

10 – 11 June  

The Opening Door allows the invited artists to respond to the theme of ‘uMoya’ by  using their bodies as vessels and vehicles for change, bodies that have historically  and often continue to be viewed as objects of desire or servitude. 

Events will take place throughout the opening weekend including live activations by  Albert Ibokwe Khoza, Raisa Kabir and Lorin Sookool, alongside talks including an in conversation between Khanyisile Mbongwa and Christina Sharpe (Writer and Professor, Canada Research Chair in Black Studies in the Humanities, Vanier  College). 

The Middle Passage 

2 – 6 August  

The second stage of the public programme, titled The Middle Passage, will centre  around the moving image, short films, and live activations from Unmute Dance Theatre  working with local dancers (supported by Art Fund, British Council and Paul Hamlyn  Foundation, and developed in collaboration with DaDa), and Shannon Alonzo.  

As part of a multi-year development programme for international Curators, in  partnership with British Council, Liverpool Biennial will host a Curator’s Week of  events, discourse and networking from 2-6 August. Funded spaces for early-mid  career Curators from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are available to apply for  now via the open call, closing 9 April 2023. 

On 4 August, a day of screenings by artists including Campbell X, Versia Harris,  Michelle Eistrup and Santiago Mostyn will run alongside events including a talk chaired  by Osei Bonsu (Curator, International Art at Tate Modern). 

The Reflective Return 

7 – 10 September  

The ‘Reflective Return’ will take place towards the end of the Biennial, providing a  moment for visitors and Liverpool Biennial 2023 artists to reflect on the themes of the  festival through artist talks, music and listening sessions.  

LEARNING ACTIVITIES 

For families, schools and the wider community, the Liverpool Biennial Learning  Programme will include a selection of online and physical resources, including a sensory pack, wellbeing routes to navigate the Biennial and artist-led workshops.  

The participating artists for Liverpool Biennial 2023 are:  

Albert Ibokwe Khoza (South Africa); Antonio Obá (Brazil); Belinda Kazeem Kamiński (Austria); Benoît Piéron (France); Binta Diaw (Senegal/Italy); Brook  Andrew (Wiradjuri/Australia); Charmaine Watkiss (UK); David Aguacheiro (Mozambique); Edgar Calel (Guatemala); Eleng Luluan (Rukai Nation/Taiwan);  Fátima Rodrigo Gonzales (Peru); Francis Offman (Italy/Rwanda); Gala Porras Kim (Colombia/USA); Guadalupe Maravilla (El Salvador/USA); Isa do Rosário (Brazil); Julien Creuzet (Martinique/France); Katy’taya Catitu Tayassu (Brazil/France); Kent Chan (Singapore/The Netherlands); Lorin Sookool (South  Africa); Lubaina Himid (UK); Lungiswa Gqunta (South Africa); Melanie Manchot (Germany/UK); Nicholas Galanin (USA); Nolan Oswald Dennis (South  Africa/Zambia); Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum (Botswana/Canada/The Netherlands);  Rahima Gambo (Nigeria); Rahmi Hamzi (Palestine); Raisa Kabir (UK/Bangladesh);  Ranti Bam (Nigeria/UK); Rudy Loewe (UK); Sandra Suubi (Uganda); Sepideh 

Rahaa (Iran/Finland); Shannon Alonzo (Trinidad & Tobago); Torkwase Dyson (USA); Unmute Dance Theatre (South Africa). 

Images: Sandra Suubi, Samba Gown, 2022