We're super excited about our 15th birthday this year, so we've decided to throw a party, just for you! From the 11 - 15 April we'll be celebrating with a special line up of events that share with you our passions of music, art, performance, film and experimentation - bringing you the best in everything FACT.
Reflecting on our role as one of Liverpool’s major arts organisations, FACT at 15 invites you to come and celebrate our history and future, with artists, musicians, filmmakers and performers from Liverpool and across the world.
Born out of Moviola, FACT was established as an organisation passionate about video and new media art, exhibiting and curating the work of artists that had little platform in the UK. When we first opened our doors on Wood Street in 2003, we became Liverpool’s first new arts build for over 60 years, since the Philharmonic Hall in 1939. Coinciding with Liverpool’s successful bid for European Capital of Culture, we quickly became a world leading exhibitor and producer of video and digital art.
Our first exhibition, Isaac Julien’sBaltimore, was commissioned for the opening (and continued to tour for the next decade). Since then, we've exhibited artists including Pipilotti Rist, Black Audio Film Collective, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, LaBeouf Rönko & Turner,Anna Lucas, Orlan, Stelarc, Wu Tsang and more. Sharing the building with a Picturehouse at FACT, our home has become a key cultural destination in Liverpool, attracting film lovers and filmmakers, international artists and curators and arts lovers.
Continuing our work with exciting artists and filmmakers, join us for a series of events from 11 - 15 April to celebrate this special year. Highlights from our party programme include;
Graham Dunning, Mechanical Techno, 11-13 April, Free. Performance 13 April, 6.30pm
Known for his vinyl hacks, coding, and turning analogue sounds into electronic music, artist and musician Graham Dunning will collaborate with intergenerational groups from Liverpool to create a new Mechanical Techno composition, over a 3 day residency in FACT's foyer Learning Space. The new work will be performed on Friday 13 April.
Richard Ramchurn, The MOMENT, 12-14 April, 11am - 5pm, Ropewalks Square, Free.
Ramchurn previews his new work, The MOMENT, a brain controlled film, screening in a caravan in Ropewalks Square. Using audience members’ vital signs, each viewing creates a unique narrative using brain computer interfaces, the next step in innovation for mass markets.
Vicki Bennett, People Like Us: The Mirror, 13 April, 5pm-6.30pm, Screen 2
On the opening night of FACT in 2003, artist Vicki Bennett conducted a memorable audio/visual performance. She returns to FACT in 2018 with The Mirror, her first dual screen performance, splicing movie snippets with original music to reflect the multiple versions of the person we present to the world as individuals.
John McHugh with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Music in Mind, Hidden Voice, 13 April, 5-6pm, The Box
Hidden Voice, a new work by artist and musician John McHugh gives a voice to those with dementia in Liverpool. In collaboration with Music in Mind and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the new composition features the voices of those living with dementia and the lilting speech melodies of project participants. The original piece of music will be performed by the RLPO Mishima quartet.
Smriti Keshari, the bomb, 13 April, 3-5pm, Screen 2
Smriti Keshari presents the bomb, an immersive film experience taking viewers through the strange and unsettling reality of nuclear weaponry. Combining archival footage, animation, music and text, the bomb explores the immense power of one of the most terrifying technological developments in human history, the perverse appeal these weapons have, and the profound death wish at the very heart of them. The artist will be present for a Q&A and discussion after the film.
Kinicho, The Cosmos, 11-15 April, 11am-6pm, FACT Foyer, Free
Liverpool based innovators of sound Kinicho challenge perceptions of how we experience aural environments with an experimental pop up. This kinetic, sonic sculpture it uses synthesisers and 3D audio to enable you to create your own soundscape.
Aurora Halal, Robin Fox and Local DJs. 13 April, 9pm-3am, 24 Kitchen Street, £7.50 Early Bird, £10 ADV, £12.50 OTD
FACT will take over the underground multi-arts venue 24 Kitchen Street, to present an extended DJ set of psychedelic, immersive techno from Aurora Halal. Artist and creator of New York's Mutual Dreaming party series and the Sustain-Release festival, Halal has toured some of the most forward-thinking underground clubs and festivals in the world, including Unsound and Berghain. Australian audio visual artist Robin Fox will perform a stunning laser show, synchronising sound and visual electricity in hyper-amplified 3D space, and the night will close with support from local DJ talent Binary + Malchance.
