Art Against the World

A contemporary art podcast that brings together artists, writers and thinkers to discuss how art responds to the world around us. Hosted by philosopher Vid Simoniti, each episode features artists in this year's Liverpool Biennial exhibition, paired with unexpected guests--from cultural critics to community voices. In Season 2, we unpick the central idea of Liverpool Biennial 2025: Bedrock. In an often polarised and fragmented world, what remains our bedrock? What are the things that ground us? Our guests explore answers from a shared family, history, or culture, to a critique of the economic and political realities that undergird our everyday experiences. You can listen to the episodes in order, or by scanning the QR codes next to the artworks exhibited around the city. Each episode features two LB2025 artists, and puts them in conversation with a thinker, performer or writer. www.biennial.com Credits Written and presented by Vid Simoniti, with contributions from Marie-Anne McQuay Co-producer Martha Murphy Sound design Luke Thomas Visual design ohfourtwoseven ⁠ Supported by Liverpool Biennial and the University of Liverpool

The Soil and the Rock - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 6

In the final episode we dig deeper into the terrestrial bedrock of Liverpool: the inspiration for this year’s theme of the Liverpool Biennial exhibition. Artist collective DARCH share how their work unearths an optimistic view of the underworld, uniting life and mortality through their sacred soil installation. Artist Petros Moris creates artworks that evoke layers of archaeological time in his Greek hometown. Geologist Anjana Khatwa, the author of The Whispers of Rock, explains where the city’s beautiful red sandstone comes from and how it connects us to the deep history of our planet. Presented by Vid Simoniti with contributions from Liverpool Biennial 2025 curator Marie-Anne McQuay. The second series of Art Against the World is part of the Liverpool Biennial 2025 public programme and is co-produced with the University of Liverpool.

06-22
34:02

The Oldest Chinatown - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 5

Liverpool has the oldest Chinatown in Europe, dating back to the 1830s. We explore how the concept of Chinatowns around the world has changed and how it remains a cultural bedrock for the communities that inhabit it. Artist Karen Tam takes us into the domestic spaces above Chinatown restaurants through an installation that evokes Cantonese opera playing in her grandmother’s bedroom. Artist ChihChung Chang recalls growing up in the Taiwanese port of Kaohsiung and examines the complexity of Chinese identity abroad. Liverpool-based musician and community organiser Zi Lan Liao explains the significance of preserving music across generations, while researcher Emily Beswick highlights how this bustling city quarter was constructed across various waves of migration. Presented by Vid Simoniti with contributions from Liverpool Biennial 2025 curator Marie-Anne McQuay. The second series of Art Against the World is part of the Liverpool Biennial 2025 public programme and is co-produced with the University of Liverpool.

06-15
31:27

Materials That Make Us - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 4

Cobalt is in our phones, 50% of packaged goods contain palm oil and microplastics have been detected in human placentas. Globally traded materials are, for better or for worse, the everyday bedrock of our society. Artist Linda Lamignan explores their dual heritage from two oil economies, Norway and Nigeria, and explains how animism can inform a different understanding of natural resources. Artist Odur Ronald makes use of aluminium in his sculptures, highlighting parallel routes of global migration and extraction of resources from Africa today. Art historian Stephanie O’Rourke explains the complex relationship artists have always had to the materials traded through global networks since the age of industrialization. Presented by Vid Simoniti with contributions from Liverpool Biennial 2025 curator Marie-Anne McQuay. The second series of Art Against the World is part of the Liverpool Biennial 2025 public programme and is co-produced with the University of Liverpool.

06-06
30:51

Layers of the City - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 3

Cities are continuously built over, and so their histories begin disappearing. We discuss how attention to architecture uncovers lost social memory. Vid takes a walk around Liverpool with writer Jeff Young, whose book Ghost Town conjures memories latent in the city’s buildings. Turner-prize winner Elizabeth Price relates how Catholic modernist churches reflect the social history of the Irish diaspora. Artist Cevdet Erek channels memory of football stadiums into his audio-sculptural installations, revealing political struggles past and present. Presented by Vid Simoniti with contributions from Liverpool Biennial 2025 curator Marie-Anne McQuay. The second series of Art Against the World is part of the Liverpool Biennial 2025 public programme and is co-produced with the University of Liverpool.

06-01
35:56

The Historical and the Personal - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 2

Our histories can unite us, but they can also haunt us. The artists we talk to respond to ghosts of the past by interweaving historical narratives with reflection on their personal lives. Dawit L Petros investigates the archives of the empire to track down an unlikely 19th century adventure up the River Nile. Jennifer Tee recovers nearly forgotten Indonesian textile crafts, which inspire her life-affirming collages made of tulip petals. Michelle Peterkin-Walker, a Liverpool-based videographer, shares her archive of Liverpool’s African diasporic culture. Presented by Vid Simoniti with contributions from Liverpool Biennial 2025 curator Marie-Anne McQuay. The second series of Art Against the World is part of the Liverpool Biennial 2025 public programme and is co-produced with the University of Liverpool. You can find out more about the exhibition at https://www.biennial.com/

05-25
38:32

Chosen Families - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 1

How do families inspire artists today? Artist Alice Rekab draws on their Irish and Sierra Leonian ancestry to recover a sense of belonging. Film-maker Amber Akaunu explores single parenting in her film about ‘other mothers’: women who help single mums raise their children. Actor, writer and activist Felix Mufti describes how intergenerational queer communities shape chosen families in Liverpool. We also explore how this year’s exhibition responds to the historical origin of the Bluecoat gallery, which began life as a charity school for orphaned children. Presented by Vid Simoniti with contributions from Liverpool Biennial 2025 curator Marie-Anne McQuay. The second series of Art Against the World is part of the Liverpool Biennial 2025 public programme and is co-produced with the University of Liverpool.

05-18
34:57

What is a Biennial? · Liverpool Biennial Episode 6

How do biennial curators weave a narrative out of diverse artworks? Liverpool Biennial Director Sam Lackey shares her experience; curator Manuela Moscoso discusses the process behind Liverpool Biennial 2021. Presenter Vid Simoniti. Liverpool Biennial 2021 www.biennial.com LINKSLiverpool Biennial 2021: find out more about the artists and the exhibition Twitter: Liverpool Biennial / Vid Simoniti Instagram: Liverpool Biennial Works mentioned: Sam Lackey Neo Muyanga – A Maze in Grace (forthcoming at Liverpool Biennial) Anthony Gormley – Another Place (2005) Koo Jeong A – Evertro (Everton Park Skatepark) (2015) Teresa Solar – Osteoclast (forthcoming at Liverpool Biennial) Linder Sterling – The Ultimate Form (2012) exhibition at the Hepworth Wakefield Manuela Moscoso Oswald de Andrade: Manifesto Antropófago (1928) Jorge Manuela Barreto – Environmental Sculpture (forthcoming at Liverpool Biennial) Neo Muyanga – A Maze in Grace (forthcoming at Liverpool Biennial)  

03-11
26:36

Speculation · Liverpool Biennial Episode 5

Art that imagines alternative futures and pasts. Artist Larry Achiampong discusses the legacies of Afrofuturism today, while Luisa Ungar’s debates the role of fiction in the archive. We are joined by the critic Pablo Larios. Presenter Vid Simoniti. Liverpool Biennial 2021 www.biennial.com LINKS Liverpool Biennial 2021: find out more about the artists and the exhibition Twitter: Liverpool Biennial / Vid Simoniti Instagram: Liverpool Biennial  Larry Achiampong Relic Traveller Phase 1 and 2 (2017-19) https://www.larryachiampong.co.uk/projects/relic-traveller-phase-1 https://www.larryachiampong.co.uk/projects/relic-traveller-phase-2 Luisa Ungar Guided Zoo Visits (2012) Dominion of Extinction (2018) Pavilion (2017) https://issuu.com/deluxu/docs/ungar_portafolio_reciente commentator Pablo Larios

03-11
29:01

The Port · Liverpool Biennial Episode 4

Art that portrays seas and migration. Alberta Whittle’s new video unearths links between climate change and colonialism. Invernomuto’s sound installation traces the influences of the Black diaspora on the Mediterranean culture. We are joined by curator Elvira Dyangani Ose. Presenter Vid Simoniti. Liverpool Biennial 2021 www.biennial.com LINKS Liverpool Biennial 2021: find out more about the artists and the exhibition Twitter: Liverpool Biennial / Vid Simoniti Instagram: Liverpool Biennial  Works featured Alberta Whittle between a whisper and a cry (2019) https://www.biennial.com/2020/exhibition/artists/alberta-whittle The opening of Alberta Whittle’s work contains a quotation from Christina Sharpe’s book In the Wake: On Blackness and Being (Duke University Press) 2016 Invernomuto (Simone Bertuzzi and Simone Trabucchi) Black Med (2018-) https://blackmed.invernomuto.info/ commentator Elvira Dyangani Ose

03-11
29:16

Transitions · Liverpool Biennial Episode 3

On art that reflects our changing bodies. Pedro Neves Marques’ film raises the possibility of male pregnancies; Ane Graff’s sculptures show how our bodies adapt to pollution. We are joined by curator Chus Martinez. Presented by Vid Simoniti. Liverpool Biennial 2021 www.biennial.com LINKS Liverpool Biennial 2021: find out more about the artists and the exhibition Twitter: Liverpool Biennial / Vid Simoniti Instagram: Liverpool Biennial  Works featured Pedro Neves Marques A Mordida (The Bite) (2019) http://www.pedronevesmarques.com/amordida_filminstallation.html  Becoming Male in the Middle Ages (2021) This work is showing at the Liverpool Biennial. http://www.pedronevesmarques.com/becomingmaleinthemiddleages.html Ane Graff States of Inflammation (2019) https://www.anegraff.com/ Commentator Chus Martinez

03-11
29:01

Forest · Liverpool Biennial Episode 2

How can art respond to ecological challenges? Jorge Menna Barreto relates how his “stomach sculpture” protects the Amazon rainforest, and video artist Bo Zheng discusses whether we can have sex with plants. We are joined by curator Margarida Mendes. Presenter Vid Simoniti.  LINKS Liverpool Biennial 2021: find out more about the artists and the exhibition Twitter: Liverpool Biennial / Vid Simoniti Instagram: Liverpool Biennial  Works featured Jorge Menna Barreto Il Restauro (2016) https://www.visibleproject.org/blog/project/restauro-environmental-sculpture-32a-bienal-of-so-paulo-brazil/ Bo Zheng Pteridophilia (2016) http://zhengbo.org/2018_PP3.html commentator Margarida Mendes

03-11
28:44

Violence · Liverpool Biennial Episode 1

How can artists show violence with sensitivity? Painter Ebony G Patterson discusses her portraits of gang members in Jamaica. Photographer Sohrab Hura’s explains his response to social media violence in India. We are joined by curator Catalina Lozano. LINKS Liverpool Biennial 2021: find out more about the artists and the exhibition Twitter: Liverpool Biennial / Vid Simoniti Instagram: Liverpool Biennial Works discussed: Ebony G Patterson Gangstas for Life Series (2007-) http://ebonygpatterson.com/works.php The Of 72 Project (2011) http://www.theof72project.com/ Sohrab Hura The Coast (2019) https://www.sohrabhura.com/The-Coast The Lost Head and the Bird (2017) https://www.sohrabhura.com/The-Lost-Head-The-Bird commentator Catalina Lozano

03-11
29:56

AATW Trailer Episodes 1-6: contemporary art and political change

Introducing Season 1 of Art Against the World.  In the next six episodes, we interview politically engaged contemporary artists, thinkers and curators. Produced in collaboration with Liverpool Biennial and the University of Liverpool. Episodes released 25 October 2020 More info at www.biennial.com  

09-03
01:39

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