Liverpool – Are You Normal? DaDaFest and Virgin Trains link up to find out!

(The press release below was issued by Bill Elms Associates on 18 July 2012).

2012-07-24 — /travelprnews.com/ — Commuters and tourists passing through Liverpool Lime Street station faced an intriguing question last Thursday afternoon (12 July) when the city’s DaDaFest disability and deaf arts festival challenged them to ask themselves ‘Am I normal?’

The survey took place – with the support of Virgin Trains – on Platform 7 so even DaDaFest VIPs arriving from London (courtesy of Virgin Trains) were quizzed.

The survey, the original idea for which was conceived by artist Martin Le Chevallier, was part of a major international art exhibition Niet Normaal: Difference on Display which opened in Liverpool’s Bluecoat on Thursday and runs until 2 September as a flagship event of DaDaFest.

Volunteers dressed appropriately in lab coats greeted passers by with their clipboards, and invited them to take a survey that is definitely out of the ordinary. Upon completion, they were branded ‘normal’ or ‘not normal’ via a sticker!

The surveying will continue across the festival period and should make for some very interesting findings. What percentage of people consider themselves to be ‘normal’? DaDaFest is looking forward to finding out.

Ruth Gould, CEO of DaDaFest stated: “The Virgin Trains partnership is vital to us, they provided first class return tickets from London so VIPs and performers can travel up to Liverpool. The fun artwork taking place on the platform provided a great introduction to the Niet Normaal exhibition which asks ‘what is normal and who decides?’ The Lever Prize has enabled us to have fruitful conversations with new businesses.”

Niet Normaal: Difference on Display features the work of over 20 internationally renowned artists including new commissions from North West artists, each addressing a definitive question of our time: ‘what is normal and who decides?’, specifically focussing on language as freedom and language as imprisonment. This question is being examined through art that aims to celebrate difference in the year of London’s hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, in the context of a disability and deaf arts festival.

Niet Normaal brings together important artworks by leading international artists who address this question . Adapted from the highly successful Amsterdam exhibition conceived of and curated by Ine Gevers, which attracted over 50,000 visitors in 2010 (www.nietnormaal.nl), this will be the first showing in the UK of this compelling group of works. Ine Gevers and co-curator Garry Robson have developed the show especially for DaDaFest. The exhibition also forms part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration which began in June and runs until 9 September 2012 bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.

Niet Normaal: Difference on Display is produced by DaDaFest (http://www.dadafest.co.uk/) at the Bluecoat (http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/)

For more information go to http://www.dadafest.co.uk/ search for DaDaFest on Facebook or follow @DaDaFest on Twitter.

EXHIBITION DETAILS

NIET NORMAAL: DIFFERENCE ON DISPLAY, Fri 13 July – Sun 2 September 2012, Open daily from 10am-6pm at the Bluecoat, School Lane, Liverpool. FREE .

For more information, images, photo passes and interview requests, please contact Jenny Morgan at Bill Elms Associates on 0151 245 0136, jenny@billelms.com – web http://www.billelms.com/

Virgin Trains is proud to support DaDaFest.

Virgin Trains’ fares from Liverpool to London start from £12.00 for an Advance Standard Single (£24.00 for an Advance Standard Return).

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