On Saturday 19 October, representatives of European organisations in Liverpool participated in a one-day event at The University of Liverpool, entitled 'Europeans and European Culture in the Liverpool City Region'.
This event was part of the 2024 Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Festival of Social Science and in partnership with Liverpool European Festival.
The event was organised by PhD researcher Stephanie Connor from the Department of Languages, Cultures and Film, along with several volunteers from Liverpool European Festival. The event, titled “Europeans and European Culture in the Liverpool City Region: Exchanging Ideas and Experiences”, provided a space for European organisations, projects and initiatives to showcase the work that they are doing, in a space which allowed for both formal and informal networking and communication.
Liverpool’s Lord Mayor Councillor Richard Kemp CBE and his wife Lady Mayoress Erica Kemp CBE attended the event, engaging with local organisations, academic researchers and audience members.
The event was officially opened with an introductory speech, followed by a talk from PhD researchers Stephanie Connor and Christina Balaska on European Settlement and Community in Liverpool. There was also a photography exhibition by Bill Plews on display during the event, capturing vibrant and cultural sites around Liverpool.
During the morning session, attendees were able to roam around and visit stalls from several local European organisations: Association of Ukrainians Great Britain – Liverpool Branch; Dante Alighieri Society Liverpool; Liverpool German Stammtisch; Little Globy; POMOC; Mammamia Liverpool; Merseyside Polonia and The German Church of Liverpool.
There was also a Citizens Advice Liverpool stall offering advice on a range of topics. Alongside the stalls, a 45-minute multilingual workshop for children took place, organised by volunteers from Mammamia Liverpool.
From left to right: Stefania Pisano (Mamma Mia Liverpool / Dante Alighieri Society); Lama Aloqili (Department of Languages, Cultures and Film, The University of Liverpool)
The afternoon was then broken up into two sessions, the first of which was on Lived Experiences. A brief speech was given by Lord Mayor Councillor Richard Kemp, followed by the first talk of the session which was delivered by Cosima Doerfel Hill from the In-Limbo Project. Cosima gave an insightful and powerful talk titled Developing European Solidarity, providing insights her own trajectory and into book publications by the In-Limbo Project.
The second talk of this session was delivered by two researchers from The University of Liverpool: Dr Caterina Guardamagna (Department of English) and Dr Jessica Hampton (Department of Languages, Cultures and Film) titled “Where are you from?” From provocation to curiosity, a journey into the experiences of multicultural society.
This talk was accompanied by drama performances from two actors — Ivan Fantasia and Pasqualina Romano — as the team innovatively delivered narratives of their research to a wider audience through drama and performance.
From left to right: Dr Caterina Guardamagna (Department of English); Dr Jessica Hampton (Department of Languages, Cultures and Film); Ivan Fantasia (DASL Theatre Group)
During the second session of the afternoon there was a chance to hear from representatives of some Liverpool-based European organisations. Firstly, the founder of Cinema Social Club — Honorata Mikołajew — gave a presentation on her Liverpool-based organisation which runs community film screenings and provokes discussion around current and pressing issues. Examples of European films that have been shown include Blind Chance (Przypadek), Corpus Christi (Boże Ciało), Rabbit à la Berlin, and 20 Days in Mariupol.
Next, Liuda Sergiienko from the Association of Ukrainians Great Britain – Liverpool Branch gave an insightful presentation into the work carried out by their organisation in Liverpool, including Ukrainian language classes, children and adult’s choir classes, and traditional Ukrainian dance classes.
A presentation was then delivered by Dagmara Wojciechowicz from Merseyside Polonia, who talked specifically about the Liverpool European Festival initiative. An overview of the festival’s success over the past two years was provided, which then led into audience group-based discussions on ideas for Liverpool European Festival 2025, facilitated by the festival’s founder, Gosia McKane.
Dagmara Wojciechowicz (Merseyside Polonia) delivering a talk on Liverpool European Festival
The event was a huge success which facilitated new connections between individuals and different organisations, as well as some wonderful ideas for Liverpool European Festival 2025. Thank you to ESRC Festival of Social Science for making this event possible!