Through photography, film and audio, artist Kevin Crooks has been documenting a number of individuals and community groups situated in the port cities of Hull and Liverpool since 2017.
Throughout the production of You’re Only Here for the Culture, Kevin has captured personal accounts from people who have been directly and indirectly impacted by the legacy of both European Capital of Culture in Liverpool and UK City of Culture in Hull, ten years apart. Kevin wanted to explore how in the short and long-term future these significant cultural events may alter and affect communities in these cities.
The project is an extension of Kevin’s ‘M62: The Transpennine Motorway’, a collection of work from 2017 which focused on the M62 as a transport link which geographically binds and culturally connects the communities and cities of the North.
You’re Only Here for the Culture is a new body of work in which Kevin has collaborated with communities that share similarities. Particularly in terms of how increased support and investment into cultural activities has impacted on the status, opportunities and future prospects of people within these two port cities that have faced the challenges of economic decline. The title ‘You’re Only Here For the Culture’ came from a Hull City AFC chant.
Outcomes of the work that has been produced will be exhibited at Artlink Hull from December 2018 and will then be displayed in a different format at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool in 2019.
Artist Information
Kevin Crooks is a St. Helens based photographer who won the Deutsche Bank Award for Creative Enterprise in 2016 after completing an MA in Photography at the University of Central Lancashire. This award funded the production of ‘M62: The Transpennine Motorway’, a photographic publication released by Tide Press in November 2017. You’re Only Here for the Culture is an extension of this body of work. Since completing his MA, Kevin has produced a series of projects, which explore the effects of how changes to government policy, initiatives and programmes shape the lives of people within society, whilst tackling issues relating to social and spatial mobility and the politics of community.
Artist talk with Kevin Crooks, Saturday 19th January 2019, 1 – 3pm. Book your place here.