This September, The Holly Johnson Story opens at the Museum of Liverpool, produced by Homotopia in partnership with National Museums Liverpool and curators DuoVision.We can’t wait for you to see it and enjoy our wraparound programme of events.
After 20 years of Homotopia, we’ve decided to take a short break from our annual festival for 2024 . Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere! We’re working away on the Holly Johnson exhibition, programme, partnerships, and gearing up to bring you something extra special for 2025.
Homotopia is an Arts Council England NPO organisation with funding in place until 2026. Our artist development programmes will also continue this year, with plans developing for Young Homotopia, Queercore and Queer the City. Our commitment to supporting and developing new and existing talent isn’t changing. New opportunities to be part of these programmes will be announced soon.
Homotopia Festival is the UK’s longest-running celebration of Queer art. We are incredibly proud of our amazing festival that runs alongside our work across the year covering artist development, city-wide exhibitions and even one hell of a cabaret for Eurovision 2023. We exist in a climate where artists are under increasing pressure, and where that climate feels increasingly hostile to Queer folks, globally and locally. We understand how important our support and platforming of art and activism is, and we want to do it in the best, most sustainable way.
Homotopia is a small team, and in order to allow space for this refocus, and to deliver The Holly Johnson Story, alongside its wrap-around events and our committed artist development programmes, we decided to take this short break from the full scale festival. We have been working closely with our funders and stakeholders on this decision in order to prioritise the wellbeing of our team and ensure we can continue to deliver the best work we can; to futureproof Homotopia so that we are here for the next 20 years.
The Holly Johnson Story’s supporting programme will include visual arts, music, talks and of course a party or two! We hope that events around this exhibition will spark creativity and vital conversations, with programmes exploring Queer identity in Liverpool and supporting education around World Aids Day.
We’re still here, doing what we do best, which is to support and platform local, national, and international LGBTQIA socially engaged artists and creatives. We’re looking forward to another amazing year ahead, which includes the upcoming exhibition showcasing the life, legacy and art of Holly Johnson.
Homotopia Festival will be back in 2025: bigger, bolder and of course, Queerer than ever!