Liverpool Biennial Reveals Theme, Artists for 2025 Edition

The organizers of theLiverpool Biennialhave announced the theme and artists for the event’s thirteenth edition. Curated by Marie-Anne McQuay and taking place June 7–September 14, 2025, the Biennial will be titled “Bedrock.”  The theme responds to both the sandstone that underlies Liverpool and is responsible for its unique architecture, and to the values of the city’s populace, as embodied by its social structures.

“The city’s geological foundations and its psyche have provided the starting point for the conversations of Liverpool Biennial 2025, with the invited artists bringing us their own definition of ‘Bedrock.’ Definitions which include family and chosen family, cultural heritage carried across the generations, and the environments that nurture and restore them,” said McQuay in a statement. “Central to this understanding of ‘Bedrock’ is the sense of loss that comes from the ongoing legacies of colonialism and empire so formative to Liverpool’s foundations. In responding to the city, artists have taken inspiration from Liverpool’s archives and histories, from its communities and civic spirit, and from taking time to dwell in its green spaces which support plant, insect, and bird life in unexpected ways through planned and unplanned urban developments.”

Thirty artists and collectives are set to participate in the Biennial, among them Mounira Al Sohl, who through diverse modes examines feminist issues as well as ideas surrounding conflict and displacement; Widline Cadet, whose multivalent practice investigates themes of intergenerational memory, selfhood, and erasure within the Haitian diasporic experience; Sheila Hicks, known for her bas-reliefs and sculptures pushing at the borders of materiality and space; Christine Sun Kim, whose work explores the way sound operates in society; and Fred Wilson, who through his interdisciplinary practice reframes objects and cultural symbols in ways that encourage viewers to reconsider social and historical narratives.

A full list of participating artists and collectives is below.

Amber AkaunuMounira Al SolhNour BishoutyImayna CaceresWidline CadetChihChung ChangKara ChinDARCHCevdet ErekNandan GhiyaAnna Gonzalez NoguchiAntonio Jose Guzman and Iva JankovicSheila HicksLeasho JohnsonChristine Sun KimLinda LamignanMaria LoizidouAmy Claire MillsPetros MorisAna NavasHadassa NgambaIsabel NolanKatarzyna PerlakDawit L. PetrosElizabeth PriceAlice RekabOdur RonaldKaren TamJennifer TeeFred Wilson