Independents Biennial 2025

Independents Biennial has been around for over almost 30 years and throughout this time, the local arts festival has been providing artists with support, space and a welcoming community. Embracing all forms of expression and protest, the festival celebrates Merseyside talent: in every new edition, you can feel the spirit of collaboration and DIY ethos with which it began back in 1999.

This year, the ‘Indy Biennial’ is back with over 120 sites all around the Liverpool city region and working with more than 300 artists. It has reached even the most unexpected spaces in and around Liverpool, from outdoor sites and parks and heritage spaces to artist-led galleries and shopping centres. It’s not just about scale either – the festival offers freedom of experimentation to everyone involved, so there are many beautiful and memorable things to see. There is no theme, just pure creativity.

When wandering around the city you’re bound to walk past the Bombed Out Church – pop in and see Amy Flynn’s Technofossils. These delicate pewter cast sculptures are decorated with colourful gemstones to pull you in with their jewel-like shine but look closer and you might let out a little gasp – they’re actually made using old Nokias, plastic food containers, vapes and other discarded items that pile up in corners and landfills. 

On the Wirral, visit Ellie Hoskins: what we talk about when we don’t know what to talk about, an exhibition of large-scale drawings that touch on our deepest worries and desires. There is honesty, humour, and possibly some of the most relatable sentiments you’ll ever encounter in an exhibition. In nearby venues you’ll find a constellation of exhibitions from the Ghost Art School, a mysterious and constantly shifting artist collective.

Venture further out to Hilbre Island to see the changing programme of exhibitions as part of Drawing Out Hilbre which focus on ecology, landscape and sustainability (don’t forget to check the tide times before you travel though!).

Back in Liverpool,  CBS Gallery for Footnotes, an exhibition of studio members’ work – pop in at the end of June for a night of performances to accompany this diverse show. The gallery has a programme of other exhibitions until the end of the Indy Biennial in September.

The above highlights are a very small snippets of the events on offer. There are so many things to see and do that, let’s be honest, you just can’t do it all. You should try to see as much as you can though – take a look at the website to plan a route around the sites or just have a wander for some chance art encounters.