This November 23rd the Pool of Life sees the return of Toxteth Day of the Dead. As most of you probably know, the Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu AKA Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond want to build a 23-foot pyramid in Toxteth called The People’s Pyramid. Each brick will contain a small amount of a deceased person’s ashes – people have signed up to this project as part of their wishes after they die. You can read about the lives of the Mumufied here.
Jimmy and Bill have been linked with Liverpool for over 40 years through the music and art scene. Their fondness for our people and place has meant that this was the area for their lasting artistic legacy.
We’ve been working alongside them since the first year, helping build around their plans. Following the momentous and moving events last November, we’re investing a lot more of our time and energy into this year, offering a whole weekend to the celebration of death. Here’s what’s happening…
WAKE L8
Set to take place on the eve of Toxteth Day of the Dead, Wake L8 is a community gathering, celebrating the eight who’ve left us this year to join The People’s Pyramid.
This is an opportunity for friends and families to pay their respects through eulogies and poetry, the day before the MuMufied bricks are laid to rest on the Foundation Stone. Drawing from the wisdom of forward-thinking undertakers, Claire and Rupert Callender, Wake L8 aims to be as meaningful and cathartic as possible for friends and family.
There will also be an open deck for close friends and family to share music significant to those who’ve passed on, whilst DJ Stephen Clarke 1980 is preparing a special DJ set. Food and drinks will be available from The Florrie’s cafe.
FRIDAY 22nd NOVEMBER
6PM @ THE FLORRIE
FREE – EVERYONE WELCOME
(DONATIONS TO THE FLORRIE)
BEATING THE BOUNDS
We were invited by Jimmy and Bill to create something around the ceremonial laying of bricks last year. Walking a route through Toxteth with the Pyramid’s Foundation Stone, we paid tribute to local people who’ve died – Olive Laycock-Rogers, Kif Higgins, John Brodie, Margaret Simey, Lilian Bader, Eddie Amoo, Arthur Dooley and Lord Woodbine, amongst others.
Although we meet at The Florrie once again, this year’s route officially begins at the ending point of last year’s procession, where the first brick was laid to rest. This year will follow along a new, shorter route, which culminates at Bridewell Spring in St James’ Gardens.
We’ve been working to engage with the local community through Granby Market and John Archer Hall, and have decided upon a new host of local figures and organisations that we’ll honour over the course of the route. You can see which areas of L8 our procession will be passing through on the map below. If it’s anything like last year, there’ll be tears, laughter, poetry, music and a game of footy.
SATURDAY 23rd NOVEMBER
MIDDAY @ THE FLORRIE
OR
1:45PM @ CORNER OF NORTH HILL & LETITIA STREETS
FREE – EVERYONE WELCOME
THE HEREAFTER PARTY
The Liverpool Arts Lab is delighted to present the Hereafter Party for this year’s Toxteth Day of the Dead! As the solemn daytime proceedings draw to a close, we’ve ensured they’ll flow into a party in the Baltic Triangle as the night falls.
Channelling the ‘Dub of the Dead’ the bass-heavy, psychedelic line-up includes the chaotic abstraction, expression and focussed blunder of cosmic visionary Paddy Steer, the maverick UK bass pioneer and long-time JAMs collaborator Tony Thorpe AKA Moody Boyz, the dubwise hip hop of Moss Side’s lyrical jackal, Kermit And The Super Weird System amongst a whole host of other wonderment.
We take our Hereafter Party to District, Liverpool’s leading reggae/dub venue, which will be graced the weekend before by Massive Attack’s Daddy G. More than 80% of the tickets have already gone and the rest are selling fast – don’t miss out on your place in the Hereafter…
SATURDAY 23rd NOVEMBER 8PM
DISTRICT, L1 0BW
TICKETS VIA SKIDDLE – EVERYONE WELCOME
THE THETIS BARDOS
On 1st June 1939, through series of bizarre accidents, the Thetis Submarine sank in Liverpool Bay. 99 men died that day, with a further life lost investigating the wreckage on 23rd August. The submarine was finally dredged on Sunday 3rd September – the day war was declared by the UK. In Greek mythology, Thetis is the water Goddess whose wedding was made infamous by the snubbed chaos Goddess Eris, who tossed in her Golden Apple, leading to the Judgement of Paris and consequently the Trojan War.
Next to the Cammell Laird Shipyard where the Thetis submarine was built, the 12th Century Birkenhead Priory, complete with the exposed remains of the 19th Century St Mary’s Church, sits in striking juxtaposition to the mammoth ships of Merseyside’s largest dry dock. Each of the 100 lives lost in the Liverpool Bay are commemorated on bricks aside the spiral staircase in St Mary’s Tower.
We intend to hold a Ritual at the Priory honouring these men, predominantly drawing from the Tibetan Buddhist Bardos but also weaving in Christian, Druid and Greek elements….with a dash of Robert Anton Wilson, Discordian humour and Cosmic Love.
SUNDAY 24th NOVEMBER 1PM
MONK’S FERRY CAR PARK, CH41 5LJ
FREE – EVERYONE WELCOME
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