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Eight Days A WeeK 2002 : WILLKOMMEN! by Mayor Sharmma. The roots of
the city partnership between Cologne and Liverpool go back a long
way. At the time when contacts between our two cities began, many of our citizens wishes for the future were still just visions. In those days, the removal of mistrust between Germany and England was rightly seen as the most important task. Even at that time however, the idea behind this partnership process was that one day our contributions would make a peaceful and free Europe a living reality. Today, 50 years after the founding of the Cologne-Liverpool city partnership, we can honestly say: we have done our job! The objective of a unified Europe, which is home to all of us, is as good as attained. And from my point of view, we can proudly say: our two cities have made their contribution to this unity. The partnership between Cologne and Liverpool has developed into one of the most intensive which the city on the Rhine maintains. For 50 years, regular meetings between children and young people have taken place, exchanges of young craftsmen/women also provide young people with vocational insights "beyond their own backyard", and other focal points lie in the areas of sport and music. In the area of art too, there are many joint initiatives. Particularly remarkable here is the "Eight-Days-A-Week" artists' project within the framework of which regular reciprocal visits, exhibitions and seminars have been taking place in our two cities since 1998. ____________________________________________________________________________ As
a city whose prosperity was built on its trading connections with
the rest of the world, Liverpool has many long established international
connections. Our reputation throughout the world is also inextricably
bound to our cultural exports, most notably popular music and sport.
Although the mercantile shipping links have changed considerably since
the city´s heyday as a port, interest in the Beatles and Liverpool´s
seminal place in popular culture continues to grow. And in recent
years we have established twinning relationships with partner cities
such as New York, Dublin and Shanghai, all places with strong cultural
identities. These new links are expressions of Liverpool's new confidence
as it enters the new Millennium.
lt is, therefore,
appropriate to celebrate in 2000 our earliest cultural partnership,
the sister city link with the German city of Cologne, established
in 1952. Liverpool is delighted to present Eight Days A Week, a programme
of contemporary art from one of Europe's premier cultural cities which
has a world-wide reputation for its wealth of galleries, museums,
concert halls and other artistic attractions, On behalf of the people
of Liverpool I am pleased to welcome our friends from Cologne to our
city, and hope that this event will lead to further exchanges between
our unique cities as we approach 2002 when we celebrate the 50th Anniversary
of our partnership and our cultural links will be further consolidated. Eight
Days A Week : Welcome
by the Leader of Liverpool City Council Liverpool, like Cologne, is widely
recognised as one of Europe's great cities. ____________________________________________________________________________ www.eightdaysaweek.org.uk |