Liverpool - So Much More than Just the Beatles
While it's true that the city of my birth is most famous for the 'fab four'; for me the city offers so much more.
I love street art, and Liverpool is one of the overlooked bastions of this most misunderstood of art forms.
Having said all that, the iconic figures like John Lennon loom large in the psyche of artist, writers and creatives of the city on the banks of the Mersey. The Beatles also bring in around 100 million pounds from tourism.
Carl Jung called Liverpool 'The Pool of Life', and to an extent I agree. It's a city of contrast. A city viewed through the perception of tourists visiting; taking a ride on the magical mystery tour bus, photographing the cavern and wandering Mathew Street.
Contrasted by the real Liverpudlians. An underlying strong socialist heart, and grass roots of social activism. Liverpool was one of the most active ANC (anti-apartheid) groups in the UK during the 1980's. I was in the thick of it, shouting down a megaphone at the age of 5 outside a shell garage as my mother was the treasurer for the Merseyside group. Liverpool continues to be a city defined by artists and free thinkers, recalcitrants and rebels.
For me, this is the beating heart of Liverpool. And it's expressed, partly at least, through the street art that pops up all over the city.
