What does culture mean to you?

Landscape

In 2004/05 Liverpool was being regenerated to become European City of Culture in 2008, and the city was changing to promote football, shopping and the Beatles as the cities main cultural identity. This project offered a space for alternative perspectives, asking Liverpudlians ‘What does culture mean to you?’.

Response

The research tool used in this work is called a Cultural Probe Pack. This pack was designed to relate specifically to Liverpool and gathered 30 people’s persepctives from 30 different postcode areas.

The elements which made up the pack asked people direct and open-ended questions which they were able to respond to using words, imagery, sculpture and smell capture. People were able to entwine their own associations, opinions and experiences into their answers. The results delivered and communicated a range of insights into subjective points of view.

Outputs

• Books about exhibition contents and findings
• Marketing and Design Brief for the cultural identity of Liverpool
• Private view and exhibition at Hope Street Gallery, Liverpool School of Art and Design
• BBC Radio Merseyside programme in which participants compared and discussed the differences and similarities in their views
• Masters publication

Sponsorship

This work would not have been possible without the support of Liverpool School of Art and Design and Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art.