SU CARROLL rounds up the very best activities to do and things to see close to the coastline this month
1 PRIZE OFFERING
This prestigious competition for contemporary artists returns to Tate Liverpool after 15 years. Established in 1984, the Turner Prize is sometimes controversial, often provocative and always interesting. The £25,000 prize is awarded to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work. This year’s finalists are Heather Phillipson, Ingrid Pollard, Veronica Ryan and Sin Wai Kin. Tate Liverpool was the first gallery outside London to host The Turner Prize in 2007 when it helped launch the city’s year as European Capital of Culture. Exhibiting at the Tate Liverpool (tate.org.uk) until March 19.
LOCALS LOVE
Everything from the Ferry Cross the Mersey to the Magical Mystery Tour. It’s not all about the Beatles and ’60s pop though – museums encompass everything from art to slavery. Liverpool hosts Eurovision this year too! Visitliverpool.com.
2 SIRENS CALLING
Turner Contemporary on Margate seafront has an international reputation but its new exhibition begins much closer to home. Artists and friends Sophie von Hellermann and Anne Ryan both live and work in Margate and take inspiration from their surroundings for Sirens, which will evolve and change throughout the exhibition.
Friends for more than 20 years, the two women have bounced sketches and ideas back and forth as they have developed the work, and this conversation will continue throughout Sirens. On until the spring – turnercontemporary.org.
LOCALS LOVE
Sculptor Antony Gormley is fascinated by the sea – his figures appeared at Crosby Beach near Liverpool and his work Look II stares out to sea from a pier on Plymouth Hoe. Visitors to Margate will discover 100 solid cast-iron figures, Another Time, on the foreshore where they will be discoverable three hours before low tide. They will remain for ten years. Information at visitthanet.co.uk
3 FAMILY FAVOURITES
Beautiful Durlston Country Park is a 320-acre countryside and coastal paradise which owes a lot to Victorian benefactors – men like George Burt who was dubbed “King of Swanage” by writer Thomas Hardy, who also lived in Dorset. George Burt helped to turn a town dominated by stone yards into a stylish seaside resort.
Now a free exhibition about him and his uncle, John Mowlem, can be seen in the Fine Foundation Gallery at Durlston Castle. Ends February 9. durlston.co.uk
4 PICTURE THIS…
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition attracts nearly 40,000 entries from 93 countries – stunning images of all creatures great and small. Organised by the Natural History Museum, London, the work helps to spark a global conversation about the conservation of wil
