Homotopia invites audiences to join and Show Your Working

Homotopia returns for 2020 with a programme of events taking place outdoors and online under the theme of Show Your Working.

The UK’s longest-running annual celebration of LGBTQIA culture runs from October 29 to November 15 promising a rich mix of theatre, spoken word, visual art and music.

This year’s festival artist in residence is award-winning artist, filmmaker and campaigner Fox Fisher who will host a series of events including a film shorts night curated by My Genderation, an ongoing film project documenting authentic trans experiences.

Fisher, who creates vibrant screen prints, will also run a special digital and interactive workshop during the festival.

Mooncup Theatre will present a drag promenade on Liverpool’s Hope Street, while a Queer the City audio art crawl will feature nine artists from Liverpool and beyond, queer-imagining city planning.

Meanwhile Homotopia has teamed up with the Unity Theatre, Culture Liverpool and Radio Merseyside to present six new audio plays by writers which tell stories of LGBTQIA past, present and future. A free audio guide will be released as part of a podcast in collaboration with Radio Merseyside.

And poet, actor and writer Jade Anouka (pictured above) will take part in a special Homotopia edition of Liverpool spoken word night A Lovely Word.

Festival director Char Binns says: “A sense of urgency has swept over this year and at Homotopia we recognise the ability of the arts to reflect and to try to lead.

“It’s one thing to lead, it's another to listen.

“Our theme this year is Show Your Working, and it says we need to search our souls - are we good allies to our trans siblings? Is a crisis just another excuse to maintain the status quo? Do we understand the challenges our Black, Asian or Arab friends and neighbours face, or do we upload supportive social media posts and think ‘job done’?

“Among the uncertainty and struggles of this year we’re showing queer culture as a place to figure things out.

“No one has all the answers, but we need to start asking the questions.”

Homotopia runs from October 29-November 15. For the full programme visit the website HERE