City ready to seize China Expo 2010 opportunities

Oct 2 2008 by Alistair Houghton, Liverpool Daily Post

THE importance of culture in Chinese life will present huge opportunities to Liverpool’s creative sector in the next two years, according to a leading figure in the city’s arts world.

Arthur Stafford, commercial director of FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technologies) visited Shanghai last week on behalf of Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium (LARC). He was part of a Liverpool delegation visiting China ahead of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

LARC, whose members include Tate Liverpool, Liverpool Biennial and Liverpool Philharmonic, are keen to be at the heart of Liverpool’s exhibition at the Expo.

It also wants to maximise the cultural potential in the closer relationship Liverpool is building with its Chinese sister.

Mr Stafford said: “In China, tradition and culture are incredibly important.

“In all the meetings I was in, culture comes through time and time again.

“I've been generating ideas for collaborations between the two cities so that the Expo reflects the strength of Liverpool’s message but to ensure it is also relevant to the 60m Chinese visitors.

“There is the possibility of us forging links between Liverpool and Shanghai cultural institutions and commissioning, for example, exhibitions at the same time as the Expo that celebrate the work of Chinese artists.”

The Expo is a six-month exhibition that begins on May 1, 2010. Liverpool’s stand in the Urban Best Practice pavilion will seek to tell the story of Liverpool’s 800 years of history and sell its future to an estimated 70m visitors, all in a space of 400 square metres.

But the delegation that visited Shanghai last week has not been solely focused on events two years and 5,700 miles away. “It’s ironic that you have to go to Shanghai to speak to people from your own city,” said Mr Stafford.

“I’ve had a lot of really good discussions with Arup, and also Liverpool and Everton football clubs, and we hope to develop those ideas.”

Arup, an engineering firm with 44 staff in Liverpool and nearly 200 in Shanghai, is already involved in cultural activities in the city.

Liverpool’s second spider – which is suspended in the air in Exchange Flags – was designed by Beijing Olympics’ Bird’s Nest stadium co-designer Ai Weiwei but was constructed by Arup.

alex.turner