The plans for the Embassy and ‘Artistic Republic of Garston’ were unveiled with a press release and launch party in November 2007. There were fireworks, music, Trotsky-esque speeches, open-top bus tours, and “lots of Ferrero Rocher”…
The Artistic Republic Of Garston
Garston Is declaring Independence
People of Garston, join the friendly revolution, we need YOU!
Friends, locals and Garstonians [...]
The next step for the ‘Cultural Village’ campaign sees Garston “staking its claim for artistic independence” by declaring itself an ‘artistic republic’… with “all the fun of a revolution, but without the violence”.
The area is to receive a major art installation by artist Michael Trainor that will see a disused school in Wellington Street transformed [...]
As early as 2004, local artist Alex Corina had a vision for Garston’s regeneration, to designate the area “Garston Cultural Village”, to attract new creative businesses to the village, giving the community new confidence and to redefine Garston as an integral part of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture in 2008, as a vibrant and lively ‘cultural [...]
The ‘Winter Lights Project’ has run for two successive years. In the first year artist Ron Haselden invited pupils from schools to make a drawing on the subject of ‘Animal’ in 3 areas of Liverpool. Three of the resulting Animal drawings were transformed into large scale, freestanding line drawings in neon light and installed in [...]
Kelham Island is a riverside area of Sheffield, where the steel industries were traditionally located. Some still remain, though many buildings are now abandoned and boarded up, as in Garston.
Many other parallels exist, though in terms of regeneration it is a few steps ahead. It’s at a point of transition, and is currently a strange [...]
A video I found on youtube, of a drive around Garston in 2005. It shows the bleakness of the deserted streets, many of which have since been demolished to make way for new houses.
in Garston they stay in their pyjamas, even when they go outside…
Liverpool was famous in the 1980s for pioneering the tracksuit/shellsuit leisurewear fashion, now mainstream with many working class communities all over the UK. Since the late 90’s Liverpool has been pioneering a new fashion for wearing pyjamas and slippers in the street. It is [...]
Garston is being seen increasingly as an opportunity for regeneration and investment by housing developers. Recently many of the deserted boarded-up houses have been demolished, and developers have started to build more standard low-quality houses to replace them.
The local residents recognise the futility of this, commenting that -like the 1970s low quality housing that was [...]
Don’t Believe The Hype – Three Tables Three Cities (DV, 8 mins, 2007)
Documenting Three tables in three cities.
Nowa Huta, Krakow, Poland. Kelham Island, Sheffield, UK. Garston, Liverpool, UK.
