Ring in 2008 the right way by visiting the newly-crowned European Capital of Culture, Liverpool. Called the Next Barcelona, this dockland town in England has a bigger claim to fame than four blokes named John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Liverpudlians will kick off the year on the 11th of January with The People’s Opening (appropriately at 8:08 pm that night; or as they would have it, 20:08). The People’s Opening will be held on St. George’s Plateau, or more accurately on the rooftops of St. George’s Plateau, complete with ballets, choirs, aerialists, and Ringo Starr. It’s one of the many great free things going on in the city this year.

Take, for instance, the Liverpool extension of the Tate Museum. Holding a lot of the excess from the Tate Modern in London, the Liverpool Tate has become a symbol of the modernization that this industrial seaside town has undergone, especially to reach its new uber-cultural status. What I love about all four branches of the Tate is that, like many UK museums, admission is totally free. And they get some exciting exhibitions, such as the two currently running at the Tate Liverpool. The first, DLA Piper Series’ “The 20th Century: How it Looked & How it Felt” runs through 2009 and gives an impression of exactly the transformation The Beatles’ hometown has seen in the past hundred-odd years. For a more immediate fix, check out the 2007 Turner Prize exhibition. Earlier this month, Mark Wallinger (who won for the film Sleeper, best known in the art circles as “the one with the bear”) was announced the winner of this annual competition, which is for British artists or artists working in the UK who have exhibited in the last 12 months. You can see his work along with the other finalists through January 13th. Which means that if you time it with The People’s Opening, you can come together right now over a weekend of free art.

And the best part is that they’re open until 9 pm the last Thursday each month for Late at Tate, just in case you’re more than a day tripper in the Big L. Sometimes all you need is free art.


Thanks, charmingman!

Tate Liverpool
Albert Dock, Liverpool
+ 44 (0) 151 702 7400
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool
Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Closed Mondays, except Bank Holidays