Manchester and Liverpool are the epitome of cities shrunk by de-industrialisation. Since the 1930s both cities have lost about half of their populations; at the nadir of this development in the 1980s, large parts of the inner cities were empty. Despite the remarkable successes of Urban Renewal in Manchester and Liverpool, many districts have not shared in these upgrading processes and still suffer high unemployment rates, loss of population, and abandonment. Numerous smaller cities in northern England, lacking the potentials of larger cities, suffer even more.

The Shrinking Cities project  funded by the German Cultural Foundation investigates the process of urban shrinkage with an international network of more than 200 artists, architects, filmmakers, academics, and local initiatives focussing on developments in the US, UK, Germany, Russia, and Japan. After several large exhibitions in Europe, North America, and Asia, the Shrinking Cities Exhibition is coming for the first time to the UK, presenting its international investigations with over 80 exhibition works.

See Manchester Confidential article

Exhibition Launch

Friday, Nov 16, 6-9 p.m.

Cube, Manchester

Exhibition Launch Liverpool

Saturday  Nov 17

RENEW Rooms, 4 p.m., Site Art Gallery 6 p.m.

CUBE — Centre for the Urban Built Environment, Manchester, is hosting the first part of the exhibition, Shrinking Cities: International Research, which examines the phenomenon of urban decline in Manchester/Liverpool, Detroit (USA), Halle/Leipzig (Germany), and Ivanovo (Russian Federation). Themes include a worldwide study of shrinking cities, the change in urban landscapes, everyday practices, and political conflicts under the conditions of urban decline.

At RENEW Rooms, Liverpool, a thematic focus is given to the subject of polarisation, examining the conditions in northern England and greater Detroit.

The second part of the exhibition, Shrinking Cities: Interventions, is being hosted by the Site Art Gallery, Liverpool, and is presenting models of action The projects range from artistic interventions and self-empowerment strategies through architectural, landscape, media, and performance interventions all the way to new legal regulations and utopian visions.

Shrinking Cities Exhibitions

November 16, 2007 – January 26, 2008

Shrinking Cities: International Research

CUBE, 113-115 Portland Street Manchester

Mon-Fri 12-5:30pm
Saturdays 12-5pm
Sundays closed

Shrinking Cities: Polarisation

Renew Rooms, The Tea Factory

82 Wood Street, Liverpool

Opening hours: Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

www.renew.co.uk/renewrooms

Shrinking Cities: Interventions

Site Art Gallery

Albert Dock, Britannia Pavilion, Liverpool

Opening hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

www.ljmu.ac.uk/site/

Side programme

A broad series of public events (artist talks, music, film, panel discussions) will take place in cooperation with Tate and Picturehouse at Fact in Liverpool, Urbis and Cornerhouse (tbc) in Manchester. Further information on www.shrinkingcities.com   

Shrinking Cities is a project of the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation) in cooperation with the Project Office Philipp Oswalt, the Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig, the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, and the magazine archplus.

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Contact

Schrumpfende Städte - Shrinking Cities
Eisenacher Straße 74
D 10823 Berlin
Fon: 49-30-818219-06
Fax: 49-30-818219-12
press@shrinkingcities.com