A new artwork co-created by young LGBTQ+ people from across Merseyside is a centrepiece of this year’s Homotopia festival. Organisers say that participating in the project has helped these teenagers and young adults gain confidence and become part of the history of their communities.
Homotopia is an international LQBTQIA+ arts and social justice group that was created in Liverpool and comes back to the city each November to hold its annual arts festival, aiming to support local and national queer and trans creatives, artists and creators.
Homotopia was Founded in 2004 and are now the longest running queer art culture festival in the UK, featuring queer films, showcases and comedy nights.
A Queer Heritage Trail, called ‘If these Walls Could Talk’, will run throughout the month and was created in partnership with GYRO, a Liverpool-based LGBTQ+ youth centre. As part of the trail, artworks by five artists is being exhibited at five different venues across the city. Locations include News from Nowhere, LoveLocks café, FACT Gallery, The Central Library and GYRO. Young people who use GYRO were involved in creating the work on display there.
GYRO is an award-winning and the longest-running LGBTQ+ youth group in the UK and is based in the city centre. The centre, originally known as Friend Mersey, was originally set up in 1976 and has since acted as a support hub for young people who identify as queer. Luke Fawcett is the artist based who helped set up the exhibition in the youth centre, which is on display in their front windows, but the main artists were young people who are a part of the hub.
Lilith Power, an LGBTQ+ youth worker at GYRO, spoke about the process of creating their exhibition.
She said: “We wanted something collaborative with the young people which is why a lot of it is collage, it meant to be if these walls could talk, so the walls of the building.
“It is all about, through art, them representing how they see the space, what they get from it and a lovely bit of historical element in there like a lot of cut outs of what the space use to be.”
When asked about the experience of creating the experience, she said:
“It was an activity they really enjoyed, I think it was good for them to get stuck in and be a part of history. In a way, and it was good to be able to offer then that opportunity.
“We have young Homotopia, it was really great to get them involved and be a part of queer core.”
Ms Power added: “We have a lot of creatives within the space, so it is amazing to let them be apart of that.”
She continued and spoke about why she thinks Homotopia is important.
“It is representation, it’s us usualising it. I think its giving queer people a platform and an opportunity to be seen and give them opportunities they wouldn’t usually get access to.”
Each exhibition will be on display in each venue until the end of November.
