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Coming and going was a project commissioned by Liverpool Capital of Culture that culminated in a two-week residency in the city in November 2008.
Investigating migration and cultural identity, Quarantine brought together artists, experts and ‘ordinary’ people from five ‘cities on the edge’: the port cities of Liverpool, Gdansk, Istanbul, Marseille and Naples, to develop a series of residencies and live events. The two-year project looked at how the cultural cargo that people bring with them can influence the identity of the city, and vice-versa – how the hybrid character of the city might re-shape someone and affect how they choose to live.
The Liverpool residency consisted of 4 strands, and finished with a hybrid public event.
Liverpool residents with origins across the world invited neighbours they didn’t know into their homes for a meal, allowing people to connect in new ways with those who live alongside them. One meal host was born in Liverpool, one has been here for years, another arrived a few weeks ago. Quarantine invited Istanbul-based sociologist and food expert Dr Zafer Yenal and Christophe Modica, a Marseille-based sound artist, to help to create this series of extraordinary encounters between strangers.
Radio Grenouille from Marseille used radio as a space for communication, performance, creativity and social change. They moved their operations to Liverpool for the duration of Coming and going and produced a series of five fascinating radio broadcasts. These were broadcast on the internet via Radio Grenouille’s own website, distributed on cd to shops and cafés around Liverpool and an extract played each day on BBC Radio Merseyside’s drive-time programme.
Photographer Ali Taptik visited all five cities in the project, including his home city of Istanbul. His remarkable images, a meditation on travel, loneliness and love, were distributed around Liverpool in the form of ‘maps’ and projected at FACT, Liverpool during the final phase of the project.
Liverpool is not alone with its audible heartbeat. The exchange of knowledge and practice between musicians throughout history and across the planet continues to create new ideas and new sounds.
Marseille music promoters Marsatac brought together a diverse group of musicians from Marseille and Liverpool. All originated from outside their city and together represented a dynamic mix of musical forms and traditions. Hassan Boukerrou, Alif Tree, Ulrich Wolters (Marseille), Talib Hamafaraj, Olu Olaseinde and Hannah Peel (Liverpool) spent 12 days together creating new music which was premiered at When we talk about food we talk about everything…
In an evening of music, food and conversation, we wove together all the strands of Coming and going. Meal hosts from our In the Neighbourhood strand and their guests shared food and discoveries from their encounters. Zafer Yenal spoke about the stories behind the food and its political and cultural journeys. Radio Grenouille created a narrowcast of sounds from their fortnight in Liverpool. Ali Taptik’s photographs were projected, and all attenders received one of his maps. The Play On musicians premiered a performance of the music they’d made together.
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