THE Turner Prize - Britain's richest arts award - is to come to Liverpool during its 800th birthday celebrations and Capital of Culture year in 2007/8.
It means the announcement of the shortlist, the exhibition of works, and the awards ceremony itself will all be held at the Tate Liverpool - the first time it is being held outside London in its 24-year history.
The city's Capital of Culture leaders were told the news at a meeting held with Peter Hewitt, chief executive of the Arts Council, and Nicolas Serota, director of the Tate, which organises the annual awards.
Last night, Liverpool's council leader, Warren Bradley, hailed the news as "good for the city and good for the Tate."
He added: "The programme of events will start in October, 2007, and carry through for most of 2008.
"It's superb news for the city and I'm thrilled to bits. Together with the completion of the new waterfront museum, and the Kings Dock arena, it means the whole logistics of the docklands area will have changed." Stacey Arnold, spokeswoman for the Tate, said: "We are planning our activities in support of 2007/08 but we cannot confirm our plans at this stage."
The awards ceremony for the Turner Prize will be featured on national television in recognition of the city's Capital of Culture status.
Securing the ceremony for Liverpool will be a major boost for the city's Tate gallery and the Capital of Culture event as a whole, due to the huge amount of publicity and controversy it generates.
News RSS Feed