A spectacular array of queer visual arts, performances and film premiers will bring a unique view of homosexuality to Liverpool as the Homotopia festival returns to the city for its ninth year this autumn.
From 30th October to 30th November spectators can enjoy over 35 events all portraying the idea of ‘Traditional Family Values’.
Lou Muddle, a spokesperson for Homotopia, told JMU Journalism the reasoning behind the theme: “Gay people have to make their own families.
They don’t have biological families; they have logical families they create themselves through friends and support groups, hence the idea to challenge the perspective of traditional family values.”
Numerous venues across the city, including the Walker Art Gallery and FACT cinema, will undergo transformations to host the artistic projects that aim to reflect the non-heterosexual experience.
Visitors this year can expect a lot more in the way of visual arts compared to previous years, some of which will be of a particular interest to a younger audience. Singer Patrick Wolf will play his part in the festival by treating an intimate audience to an acoustic performance in the Unity Theatre as part of his world tour.
One of the more diverse art installations this year will be the moving arts performance Council House Movie Star. Visitors will enter a mock council house, complete with its residential (but not always present) drag queen Gail Force, her social worker Dawn Patrol, and friend Donna Reah. With a room full of toilets and a scattering of youths inspired by the ‘Jeremy Kyle generation’ this art space will give an entertaining, yet thought-provoking, insight into the life of an ageing drag queen.
Ms Muddle said: “This will be a wacky, funny installation full of black comedy. The idea isn’t to interact with Gail but to watch her going about her daily life.”
Other highlights of the festival will include the premier of ‘Epstein’, a multimedia play about the man who made the Beatles, and an exhibition of work by Mark Morrisroe, who took photos from his hospital bathroom before dying from AIDs in 1989.