As well as producing one of the world’s largest contemporary art events, Liverpool Biennial commissions extraordinary public artworks such as Another Place by Antony Gormley and Everybody Razzle Dazzle by Sir Peter Blake on the River Mersey. Founded in 1998, the Biennial has commissioned 305 new artworks and has presented work by 444 international artists from more than 70 countries. Over the last six editions Liverpool Biennial has hosted more than 5.5 million visits.

An independent report has identified the wide-reaching impact of Liverpool Biennial, assessing the contemporary art festival’s impact on visitors, artists, the city and the arts sector. The report, undertaken by cultural research specialists BOP Consulting, was commissioned to gauge the Biennial’s role across a range of areas, including cultural, social and economic impact.

One of the headline figures is that approximately 1.2 million people had an experience of a Liverpool Biennial 2016 exhibition or public artwork. According to the report, Liverpool Biennial also contributes to the strength of the regional, national and international contemporary art sector through its impact on participating artists and staff. 84% of the artists said that the Biennial allowed them to develop their work, while 92% of the young people who worked as mediators in exhibitions believed that the Biennial had improved their future career prospects.