Art Against the World
A contemporary art podcast that brings together artists, writers and thinkers to discuss how art responds to the world around us. Hosted by philosopher Vid Simoniti, each episode features artists in this year's Liverpool Biennial exhibition, paired with unexpected guests--from cultural critics to community voices.
In Season 2, we unpick the central idea of Liverpool Biennial 2025: Bedrock. In an often polarised and fragmented world, what remains our bedrock? What are the things that ground us? Our guests explore answers from a shared family, history, or culture, to a critique of the economic and political realities that undergird our everyday experiences.
You can listen to the episodes in order, or by scanning the QR codes next to the artworks exhibited around the city. Each episode features two LB2025 artists, and puts them in conversation with a thinker, performer or writer.
www.biennial.com
Credits
Written and presented by Vid Simoniti, with contributions from Marie-Anne McQuay
Co-producer Martha Murphy
Sound design Luke Thomas
Visual design ohfourtwoseven
Supported by Liverpool Biennial and the University of Liverpool
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 31 minutes
- Episodes
- 12
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
The Soil and the Rock - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 6
In the final episode we dig deeper into the terrestrial bedrock of Liverpool: the inspiration for this year’s theme of the Liverpool Biennial exhibition. Artist collective DARCH share how their work …
The Oldest Chinatown - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 5
Liverpool has the oldest Chinatown in Europe, dating back to the 1830s. We explore how the concept of Chinatowns around the world has changed and how it remains a cultural bedrock for the communities…
Materials That Make Us - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 4
Cobalt is in our phones, 50% of packaged goods contain palm oil and microplastics have been detected in human placentas. Globally traded materials are, for better or for worse, the everyday bedrock o…
Layers of the City - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 3
Cities are continuously built over, and so their histories begin disappearing. We discuss how attention to architecture uncovers lost social memory. Vid takes a walk around Liverpool with writer Jeff…
The Historical and the Personal - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 2
Our histories can unite us, but they can also haunt us. The artists we talk to respond to ghosts of the past by interweaving historical narratives with reflection on their personal lives. Dawit L Pet…
Chosen Families - Liverpool Biennial 2025 Ep 1
How do families inspire artists today? Artist Alice Rekab draws on their Irish and Sierra Leonian ancestry to recover a sense of belonging. Film-maker Amber Akaunu explores single parenting in her fi…
What is a Biennial? · Liverpool Biennial Episode 6
How do biennial curators weave a narrative out of diverse artworks? Liverpool Biennial Director Sam Lackey shares her experience; curator Manuela Moscoso discusses the process behind Liverpool Bienni…
Speculation · Liverpool Biennial Episode 5
Art that imagines alternative futures and pasts. Artist Larry Achiampong discusses the legacies of Afrofuturism today, while Luisa Ungar’s debates the role of fiction in the archive. We are joined by…
The Port · Liverpool Biennial Episode 4
Art that portrays seas and migration. Alberta Whittle’s new video unearths links between climate change and colonialism. Invernomuto’s sound installation traces the influences of the Black diaspora o…
Transitions · Liverpool Biennial Episode 3
On art that reflects our changing bodies. Pedro Neves Marques’ film raises the possibility of male pregnancies; Ane Graff’s sculptures show how our bodies adapt to pollution. We are joined by curator…
Forest · Liverpool Biennial Episode 2
How can art respond to ecological challenges? Jorge Menna Barreto relates how his “stomach sculpture” protects the Amazon rainforest, and video artist Bo Zheng discusses whether we can have sex with …
Violence · Liverpool Biennial Episode 1
How can artists show violence with sensitivity? Painter Ebony G Patterson discusses her portraits of gang members in Jamaica. Photographer Sohrab Hura’s explains his response to social media violence…