A colourful display of material from the archives of ‘Homotopia’, Liverpool’s unique and trailblazing LGBT+ arts and culture festival, is at Liverpool Central Library. Featuring programmes, articles and interviews, the exhibition celebrates some of the artists and authors who have appeared in Liverpool.
Established in 2003 with its first festival in 2004, Homotopia has attracted an audience of more than 125,000 people, and a global audience of over 175,000 for its web-based TV programme.
See it at Liverpool Central Library from Monday 21st October 2024 -until Saturday 31st January 2025
As part of Homotopia’s Autumn Programme, join us as we hear the story of Holly Johnson from the artist himself.
To celebrate the recent opening of The Holly Johnson Story exhibition, curated by DuoVision Arts and produced in partnership with Homotopia and National Museums Liverpool, book your tickets for an intimate event where none other than Holly himself will be in conversation with journalist, Paul Flynn.
The exhibition celebrates Holly’s creative genius, charting his personal life and extraordinary music career over five decades. This event will see Holly speak openly about his music and his life in the public eye.
Holly Johnson will be joined by Paul to talk about his music career of over 40 years, his rise to meteoric fame following the release of Welcome to the Pleasuredome, and life in the public eye.
Paul Flynn is a prolific London-based writer and pop cultural commentator who writes for i-D, Attitude, Fantastic Man, the Sunday Times, GQ Style and Grazia.
Paul’s book Good As You: From Prejudice to Pride – 30 years of Gay Britain, published in 2017, is essential reading for self-respecting homosexuals and pop culture fans alike.
This event is suitable for people aged 16+.
The event will take place at Museum of Liverpool, Pier Head, in the ground floor Global City Theatre on Saturday 30 November. It will start promptly at 2pm and run until 3pm.
Tickets are £24pp and includes entry to The Holly Johnson Story exhibition (entry following the In Conversation 3pm – 4pm).
A BSL interpreter will be present for the duration of the in conversation.
Tickets are limited due to capacity so buy now to avoid disappointment!
We’re delighted to welcome Adrian Friedli as Interim Executive Director at Homotopia.
Adrian comes to Homotopia with a wealth of experience in the arts sector, as an accomplished arts worker and Director. You can read all about him here.
Adrian says
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with the dynamic Board and team at Homotopia, to support the next chapter in its development as a queer arts and social justice organisation, exploring what the future of LGBTQIA+ art and activism can be.”
Homotopia is also delighted to announce we have become a charity. This change in status helps us to focus on developing the organisation further.
It’s going to be a busy Autumn as, although we have no Homotopia Festival this year, we co-produced The Holly Johnson Story with Museum of Liverpool and DuoVision and will announce a series of events as part of that this Autumn and Spring. We will also have Young Homotopia and Queercore programme news very soon.
We know many of our friends and family in the arts community and the LGBT+ community in Liverpool want to know more about Homotopia.
Adrian is here as Interim Dirctor to guide us into the next chapter. We remain an Arts Council England National Portfolio Ogrnaisation (NPO). The decision to pause the Homotopia Festival in 2024, allows for the time and space to focus on strengthening the organisation’s foundations and building for the future.
Topher Campbell joined the organisation in 2024 as Director/CEO. After five months with Homotopia, Topher made the decision to focus on his own artistic projects at Tate Modern and Somerset House, as well as his family commitments in London.
We are really excited about what the next twelve months will bring and how it will strenghten this festival for the future.
Martin Green and James Lawler are DuoVision, co-curators of The Holly Johnson Story, in partnership with National Museums Liverpool and Homotopia.
The Holly Johnson Story opens on 14 September 2024 running until Sunday 27 July 2025. Book your tickets here
DuoVision has worked extensively with the LGBTQIA+ creative community since 2012, curating exhibitions by undervalued artists, photographers and designers, aimed at engaging with a wider audience.
The Gallery Liverpool on Stanhope Street
Until 2020, they curated exhibitions at The Gallery, Liverpool, featuring artists including Duggie Fields, Caroline Coon, Pam Hogg, Peter Ashworth, Jarvis Cocker, Marc Almond and more. Since then, DuoVision have curated exhibitions at; Cartier, Paris; Potteries Museum, Stoke on Trent; Gallery46, Whitechapel, London; Fitzrovia Chapel, London; Tramps, London; TCFE, Soho, London.
“There are many artists who haven’t had the recognition they deserve”, says Martin, “and central to our work has been the ethos of casting a light on both the quality of the work they have produced, as well as making the artworld see them in a different light”.
This began with Duggie Fields, the late British artist, who Duovision exhibited in the Gallery in 2012 with the show Welcome To My World.
“Duggie’s work was evocative of a certain era and culture of British art and identity that blended pop culture references, music, queer identity, post punk, flamboyance and dazzling colour. He was chronically overlooked by the art world so this exhibition was a stamp, a mark in the ground to say ‘you have to recognise how important this artist is”.
Welcome to My World featured paintings, prints, objects and sculpture from Duggie’s archive and work that had featured in solo shows in London, Tokyo and New York.
Duggie Fields (left) and sculptor Andrew Logan at the opening of Welcome to My World
Through Duggie, DuoVision met Caroline Coon, an iconic figure of the counterculture, known as a photographer and campaigner, but whose visual art was not well known.
“In 2018 we held the first solo show by Caroline Coon at The Gallery, The Great Offender. It was Caroline’s introduction to the artworld as this fully formed, astonishingly talented and yet overlooked artistic figure”.
That exhibition catapulted Coon into the artworld, positioning her a vital figure within the narrative of female art.
“Too often in the artworld, people are put into a certain box early in their career and they stay there. If we do truly want to be both diverse and inclusive, we have to give people the freedom and ability to evolve through their life and artistic journey. The artist you begin your career as when you are young isn’t the same one you will be as you age. Giving the ability to document and exhibit that journey is a huge part of fully embedding the artist experience within culture”.
In 2018 other exhibitions featured the British fashion designer Pam Hogg and photographer Peter Ashworth.
DuoVision with Jarvis Cocker. From left, james lawler, Jarvis Cocker, Martin Green
The Holly Johnson Story is an exhibition part of this tradition about seeing creatives in a different light from the one they have been perceived.
“My personal journey began with Holly in 1982” says James, “when I saw him perform with the unsigned Frankie Goes to Hollywood art at my art college. His openness about his sexuality was affirming and influential during a time of rampant homophobia. In the 80s, Holly was one of the musicians whose unapologetic approach to their own sexuality helped shift mainstream understanding and acceptance”
“We approached Holly about doing this exhibition. Then we talked to Homotopia about securing Heritage Lottery funding and they, with other partners, helped us to work on the application, which was successful. Then we partnered with National Museums Liverpool for an exhibition space”.
The Holly Johnson Story is open until Sunday 27 July 2025.
