Culture and heritage in Liverpool

The University of Liverpool plays a significant role in contributing to Liverpool's culture and heritage.

Liverpool has a strong arts, culture and heritage sector that is a key asset to the city-region. This is recognised by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s (LCRCA’s) commitment to spend the equivalent of 1% of its annual devolution funding from the government to support cultural activities, the first in the country to do so.

Digital heritage and modernising preservation

The £1 million Centre for Digital Heritage Research, was funded by the UK government’s World Class Laboratories Fund. This Centre, which opened in May 2024 at the Virtual Engineering Centre's (VEC) Sci-Tech Daresbury base, is the UK’s first National Centre for Digital Heritage. It aims to position the UK as a global leader in heritage research, conservation, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

VEC, in collaboration with St George’s Hall Trust, is developing a proof-of-concept heritage blockchain platform called Heritage Blocks. This open-access platform aims to revolutionise heritage preservation and accessibility through collaboration with SMEs, galleries, museums, and charities, leveraging VEC’s advanced technologies. In a pioneering pilot project, VEC created a 360-degree digital scan of St George’s Hall’s historic Minton Tile floor. This simulation technology allows for remote access to the tiles, enhancing the visitor experience and showcasing the hall’s beauty. Additionally, it has practical applications for the maintenance and repair of the tiles.

Partnerships with cultural institutions

The University of Liverpool enjoys a number of key partnerships with cultural institutions across the city, helping us have an impact on growing this important aspect of the city and wider region.

National Museums Liverpool (NML)

Since 2019, the University has had a memorandum of understanding with National Museums Liverpool (NML), formalising a collaborative relationship. This partnership includes joint research, shared use of collections, and the curation of bespoke University courses such as the International Slavery Studies MA and Sustainable Heritage Management MA.

International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum redevelopment

The University’s School of Architecture is collaborating with the renowned design firm Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios) on a £58 million redevelopment project for the International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum as part of the Waterfront Transformation project.

Collaboration with Tate Liverpool

Since 2016, the University has worked closely with Tate Liverpool to engage academics, students, artists, and the public with pioneering research and Tate’s world-class collections. This partnership has led to support for exhibitions such as Lucy McKenzie and Radical Landscapes, and collaboration on an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA) Doctoral studentship titled “Migrant Eye: Reactivating the Photogenic Past Through Archives and Exhibitions in Liverpool and North West England.”

Both the University of Liverpool and Tate are now recruiting for a second collaborative AHRC doctoral award titled “Adrian Henri – Early Happenings in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s.” The support from the University of Liverpool has been praised by Tate as “invaluable,” enhancing the scope of exhibitions through co-curated programmes led by University PhD students and academic staff. The exhibitions attracted 6,673 and 11,285 visitors respectively, with workshop series for all projects drawing hundreds of attendees.

Liverpool as a city region stands out as a dynamic cultural and heritage destination, bolstered by significant contributions from the University of Liverpool.

Open Eye Gallery

During Eurovision 2023, the University was part of creating the city-wide EuroFestival. In collaboration with the Open Eye Gallery, the University campus joins other city-centre public realm sites to display a selection of six Ukrainian photographers who tell their stories about home through images. Displayed alongside the images are responding poems written by six UK poets including Professor Deryn Rees-Jones from the University’s Department of English.