Welcome to this weeks Art in Liverpool Podcast

Liverpool Fails to break record santa dash record - over 7000 Santa's braved the cold on Sunday morning to raise money for Charity

The Liverpool Dashing Santas came amazingly close to bringing back the World Record back to the city but fell short by a mere 237 entries. The Las Vegas number of 7,269 running Santas set last year has survived by the slimmest of margins with Sin City failing to come anywhere near their own giant entry of twelve months ago.

The Fact Blog is a hit which follows on from FACT TV http://blog.fact.co.uk/. You can see a little example of FACT TV on the Front Page.

This weekend I was at Barcamp at Novas CUC which was brilliant. Great atmosphere, great concept even if it is for geeks. Check out the flickr stream. On Sunday Ian was also busy with the Labyrinth of Light at St Georges Hall -

The New Ancient Egypt gallery  (Podcast interview with curator Ashley Cooke will be available soon)
The new ancient Egypt section opened at the World Museum on Friday and, no doubt, will be very popular with the public. Apart from all the mummies and coffins there are some excellent displays of smaller items of jewellery, pottery, ornaments etc. Amazing how well the vibrant colours have lasted for thousands of years. More

BRIDEWELL - Christmas Presence. A celebration of local art and craft. Christmas market and exhibition opening: Saturday 6 December 11-16.00. Exhibition continues until Friday 19 December; Wed Fri Sat 12-17.00, Thurs 12-19.00

Coming up this week

A very busy Thursday 11 December
OPEN EYE - David Goldblatt: Intersections Intersected. 12 December 2008 - 28 February 2009
Exhibition Preview: Thursday 11 December, 18-20.00 - UK debut of a major new exhibition project by celebrated South African photographer David Goldblatt. Since the early 1970s Goldblatt has photographed the physical and ideological landscape of his native country. In this exhibition he presents carefully selected pairings of photographs made before and after the collapse of apartheid in 1990.

FACT - DING>>D0NG. 12 December2008  – 22 February 2009 (This weeks show almost has a theme of it)
Gallery 1 & 2, Media Lounge and online spaces at FACT Viewing (Members) Thursday 11 Dec 18-20.00
DING>>D0NG ends the year with whistles, bangs and electronic noise. Liverpool music icon Andy McCluskey (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) teams up with internationally renowned designer Peter Saville (Factory, Manchester) and Liverpool based video artist Hambi Haralambous to create the new work, Energy Suite.

BLUECOAT - 'Next Up: Liverpool Art Now'. Friday 12 December 2008 – Sun 15 February 2009
Viewing Thursday 11 December 18-20.00 - A group exhibition showcasing 39 artists living and working in the city, Next Up: Liverpool Art Now celebrates the depth of creative talent currently to be found on Merseyside.

CUC - Red Dot  and Novas Arts ‘Migration’ exhibition. 12 Dec 2008 - 9 January 2009
Viewing Thursday 11 Dec 18-21.00 All are welcome to attend.  There will be a post private view social event at the Jamaica Rooms (next door to the CUC) from 21.00 - 25 members of Red Dot will present many diverse themes and aspects of migration through painting, photography, multi-media installations, sound and music installations, lighting installations and sculpture.

GOSTINS - 'Miscellany Revisited' New work by Penny Gill. 12 December 2008 - 31 January 2009
Viewing Thursday 11 Dec 18-21.00

FRIDAY - Cornerstone the Big Auction - 'Pre-paid'. 5 - 12 December 2008. An exhibition AND auction of postcard works donated by artists and celebrities who contribute to Liverpool’s prestigious cultural life and continuing development. Auction Fri 12 December 17.30 - 20.00
The contributor’s names will be withheld until the preview night on Thursday and the postcards subsequently exhibited for one week only. Names will not be matched to the cards.

And finally Further ahead

5th Floor at Tate. The Fifth Floor: Ideas Taking Space. 16 December 2008 – 1 February 2009. Admission free
Launch Event - Sunday 14 December 14-20.00 with performances and activities. The Fifth Floor: Ideas Taking Space presents major new works and commissions by fourteen internationally-renowned artists and artists’ groups that respond to ideas that have evolved out of discussions with the people of Merseyside. There is so much to this that i can't possibly mention it here so find out more

I hope you enjoy this weeks podcast and apoligies for the length!!!