LIVERPOOL.- The full programme of international commissions, major exhibitions and special events for Liverpool Biennial 2012, which will take place from 15 September – 25 November 2012, was announced today by the Biennial’s new Director, Sally Tallant.

Liverpool Biennial is the largest contemporary art festival in the UK. For ten weeks every two years it commissions the most exciting artists from around the world, attracting over 600,000 visitors in 2010 and contributing £27m to Liverpool’s economy.

Liverpool today offers the richest visual arts environment anywhere in the UK outside London. It has more galleries and museums, and commissions more new art than any other city except the capital and was European Capital of Culture in 2008. The Liverpool Biennial Festival takes place in a wide range of locations across the city, from established museums and galleries to unusual and unexpected places.

Participating organisations and venues include The Cunard Building, The Bluecoat, Everton Park, FACT, Liverpool ONE, Metal, The Monro, Open Eye Gallery, Tate Liverpool, Mitchell’s Bakery, LJMU Copperas Building (Lime Street), the Walker Art Gallery, Victoria Gallery and Museum and The Royal Standard.

Highlights of the programme include: Sky Arts Ignition Series, in partnership with Tate Liverpool, will present a major public commission by acclaimed US artist, Doug Aitken, which will be installed on Albert Dock in a temporary structure designed by David Adjaye; American superstar Rhys Chatham, renowned for his large-scale performance works will present a spectacular concert in Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral as part of the opening weekend; one of Argentina's most established and internationally renowned artists, Jorge Macchi, presents a commission in which a giant iron H bar will be bent into an impossibly perfect curve; Israeli artist, Oded Hirsch will present a full-sized elevator which will burst through the floor of the Liverpool ONE shopping centre; and Liverpool’s famous Cunard building is being opened to the public for the first time to provide an unusual exhibition venue.

For the Olympic year, Liverpool Biennial will explore the theme of hospitality. Hospitality is the welcome we extend to strangers – an attitude and a code of conduct as well as a metaphor that suggests conditions and energies that inspire artists. Liverpool Biennial 2012 invites artists and thinkers to bring forth new understandings of hospitality for our increasingly globalised and complex times.

The exhibition, The Unexpected Guest will show works by over 60 leading and emerging artists from across the world in locations throughout the city. The Cunard Building will be used as a venue for the first time this year. One of the city’s iconic ‘Three Graces’ with the Port of Liverpool and Royal Liver buildings, it was inspired by the Farnese Palace in Rome to house passengers embarking on the Cunard Line’s trans-Atlantic voyages departing from Liverpool.

City States brings together over 60 artists from seven countries, exploring the dynamics between cities and states with new and existing works. It will present work from cities including Copenhagen, Gdansk, Hong Kong, Incheon, Lisbon, Makhachkala, Oslo, Reyjkavik and Vilinius. In partnership with Liverpool John Moores University, the former Royal Mail Sorting Office on Copperas Street, near Lime Street Station – used as a sorting office from 1977 – 2011, will host both City States and Bloomberg New Contemporaries.

Bloomberg New Contemporaries showcases the best contemporary work from art schools around the UK. Established in 1949, New Contemporaries is a founding partner of Liverpool Biennial.

The John Moores Painting Prize, the most celebrated contemporary painting prize worldwide, will be presented at the Walker Art Gallery.

The Royal Standard, Liverpool’s artist-led studio space, will present Series Provider, an exhibition which explores the role of Biennials in contemporary art.

Each weekend of the Biennial has been curated to ensure that each of the 10 weeks of the festival has a distinctive and exciting programme that includes film, performance, comedy, music, archaeology, expeditions, poetry, dance and a Young Peoples’ Biennial.

The Victoria Gallery and Museum, participating in the Biennial for the first time, will present an exhibition by Liverpool based artist Paul Rooney.

Oded Hirsch’s commission will open one week early on 8 September as part of the London 2012 Festival.

Sally Tallant, Director, Liverpool Biennial, said, “Liverpool Biennial is the most important contemporary arts event in the UK. Every two years the Festival offers an enormous variety of free public events, exhibitions, and performances - this Autumn will be no different. I am particularly thrilled that we have expanded the Biennial to include new organisations and venues, broadening the scope wider than ever before. Our hope is that in future we can keep on expanding, filling as many spaces as possible with fantastic contemporary art. I look forward to seeing locals and visitors, from the UK and internationally, take part in experiencing everything that the city has to offer.”

Joe Anderson, The Mayor of Liverpool, said, “Liverpool Biennial is always a highlight of the city’s cultural programme. It draws large numbers of people to Liverpool and is a must-see festival for anyone with an interest in art and culture. It is thought provoking, challenging and entertaining and never fails to provoke discussion and debate. It is a measure of the cultural significance of our city that we are able to stage an event which is hugely respected by artists, critics and the public.”