Liverpool Biennial is part of a new network of eleven arts organisations from across the North of England and South Asia. A three-year programme of co-commissions, exhibitions and intellectual exchange will celebrate shared heritage across continents and develop artistic talent.

The New North and South network, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England’s Ambition for Excellence programme, will bring prominence to the work of leading Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and UK artists and include new artistic commissions, exhibitions and performances in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool and in Colombo, Dhaka, Lahore, Karachi and Kochi.

Residencies will enable mid-career artists from South Asia to work alongside, or be supported by, artists and curators with international reputations. The residencies will culminate in a series of co-commissions with the Lahore and Karachi Biennales in 2017. Liverpool Biennial will also develop mentoring and commissioning opportunities for emerging Bangladeshi artists selected for the Samdani Award with Dhaka Art Summit in 2018. 

The network consists of Manchester Art Gallery, the Whitworth, Manchester Museum, Liverpool Biennial, The Tetley in Leeds and Colombo Biennale (Sri Lanka), Dhaka Art Summit (Bangladesh), Karachi and Lahore Biennales (Pakistan), Kochi-Muziris Biennale (India) and the British Council.

The New North and South aims to connect with diverse audiences on both continents through a programme of exhibitions and events that showcase the best of contemporary art from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the UK and also explore unequal and contested histories of empire and the industrial revolution.

Find out more about the programme