Biennial – Bedrock: Foundation and Faith

Rev Canon Dr Ellen Loudon, Canon Chancellor and Director of Social Justice

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 3.11

The Liverpool Biennial theme ‘Bedrock’ resonates for us as a Cathedral community as we consider the foundations of our faith in Jesus Christ. Firstly, it resonates because it is our faith that motivates us, as a Christian community committed to justice and mercy, to support for some of the most vulnerable people in our city – including those who have been displaced from their home land. Our cathedral charity Micah works in partnership with the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King and parishes around Hope Street to care for those on the margins. Together with other anchor organisations across the city and region we are building social resilience from the ground up. 

Secondly, the theme resonates because this remarkable structure ‘built by the people for the people to the glory of God’ is built using stone by stone from Woolton Quarry – local stone, dug out from the bedrock of the city for the building of our vast cathedral. The red stone of Woolton shines like Uluru and the windows glisten like diamonds in the summer evening sun – a beacon of hope, faith and love for our city and region.

Liverpool Cathedral is a place of creativity and challenge and it is a privilege to be exhibiting work as part of the 2025 Liverpool. In our main space, under the Dulverton Bridge, hangs Maria Loizid’s large scale crocheted installation which was co-commissioned by Liverpool Cathedral. There is a transitory feeling to the work, and the golden web appears to snare the handmade embroidered migratory birds native to Merseyside. This translucent, delicate piece captures themes of migration, creative co-existence and survival. Alongside the delicate hanging are strung birds of silver and gold bedecked with jewels that give a sense of freedom. There is a gentle protest against captured beauty alongside a celebration of the freedom of creation intertwined into this piece. 

In the Lady Chapel Ana Navas glass collages are inspired by the tones and forms of historical portraits of women. Taking small details from dresses, backgrounds of portraits and seemingly insignificant ‘props’ such as necklaces, chess boards, frills and laces, Navas creates these free-flowing glass pieces. The images are compressed and larva-like. Navas’ work manages to capture colour and light, and echoes something of the qualities of our Cathedral stain glass windows. The Nobel Women depicted in our windows may be more formal depictions of the female form; and yet they sit well, in conversation with, Navas’ anonymous abstract women. Amongst the pieces shown previously in Amsterdam Navas has created a new work inspired by the Cathedral’s archives, paying tribute to local women’s embroidery and craftsmanship – a nod to intergenerational creativity and the extraordinary collection of extant embroidery work in the cathedral archive.

We describe Liverpool Cathedral as a place of encounter. My hope is that as people visit the cathedral to experience the Biennial art work they will also experience something of the beauty and creativity of the God that knows and loves them. I also pray that we will be challenged by our God who longs for justice and mercy and longs for each of us to speak out and seek the common good.

I am Canon Chancellor at Liverpool Cathedral, as a Residentiary Canon I share the responsibility of the running of the cathedral with a group of trustees under the Leadership of the Dean. As a priest I am part of the team that leads worship at the cathedral and I also take responsibility for strategic leadership of our justice and mercy work: As well as our social justice charity Micah we are committed to being net zero carbon by 2030 and our racial justice work currently focuses on our response to contested heritage.

More information: https://liverpoolcathedral.org.uk/learn-about-social-justice/

• Please join us for the 12th annual Micah Lecture, our flagship social justice event, spotlighting leading voices in Christian social action. This year, we welcome Jenny Sinclair, Founder and Director of Together for the Common Good, as our keynote speaker. Her lecture is titled: From Charity to Solidarity