CITIES ON THE EDGE - for the likes of us

Alan Dunn & David Jacques with Rotunda Community College / napoliest / liverpolitalia / MDI / Liverpool Biennial, Sep 2008

Liverpool-based artists Alan Dunn and David Jacques have collaborated with the immediate community around Rotunda Community College and various parties from Naples including napoliest on the production of La Dolce Vita, a temporary 80x10ft cinematic artwork across three billboards outside Rotunda. The composition has drawn imagery and narratives – both real and fictionalised - from community contributions around notions of Italophilia and Liverphilia as exemplified by the 1950’s trend of holidaying around the Bay of Naples. Woven across the billboards are conversations and reflections on Diego Maradona, routes across Naples and the set of photographs taken of the Bay Of Naples in 1960 by Peter Forster.

The billboards will be accompanied by an Italian-flavoured event at Rotunda, including an outdoor screening of La Dolce Vita, on Saturday 20th September 2008.

               

     

For the Likes of Us is an exchange programme between Liverpool neighbourhoods Garston, Kirkdale and Kensington and artist and arts organisations in the cities of Naples, Marseille and Gdansk. For the Likes of Us is part of ‘Cities on the Edge’, created by Liverpool Culture Company to explore the difference and similarities between six extraordinary harbour cities in Europe.

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“…It was this place on the main street in Sorrento and we used to all go there of a night. There were loads of lemon trees there. The girl brought our drinks and I asked her for lemon, she looked across and the waiter came over and I said “can I have lemon in this?” And he just plucked one out of the tree and handed it to me…” (Vera Murphy recalling an early 1970's visit)

"I was speaking to the lady who lives directly opposite the billboards and she was saying how lovely it was each morning to wake up to blue skies and the Bay of Naples ..." (Libby Mackay, Rotunda, September 2008)

"... and that same woman has plastic lemons in her window" (David Jacques, September 2008)

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