Liverpool

I’m recently home from a couple of days in Liverpool, visiting all the main tourist attractions and whilst loving the vibrancy of the City, feeling deeply affected by the acknowledgement there of its multitude of civic riches having been built on the fortunes of slave traders. Of course, much of London’s establishment shares the same heritage but in Liverpool, the focus is stark. In the eighteenth century, Liverpool was richer than London; it built the world’s first commercial enclosed wet dock, instrumental in the City’s growth and profit through Transatlantic Slavery. The famous Three Graces along the dockside, the Cunard Building, the Royal Liver Building and the Port of Liverpool Building, are all testament to the City Fathers’ flourishing business wealth, as well as the Walker Art Gallery, the magnificent St George’s Hall and many more. Catching some of the art works from this month’s Liverpool Biennial also served to hit home the legacy of the slave trade, none more so than three mammoth metal structures in one low ceiling gallery at, ironically, Tate Liverpool, created by American Torkwase Dyson. The oppressive sensation of being in the dark bowels of a ship, trapped and airless, haunted us for the rest of the trip. Congratulations to the folks of Liverpool for their insightful, informative and moving interpretations.