An iconic Liverpool sculpture has been given a new lick of paint ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest.
In May the city will host the event on behalf of Ukraine, winners of the 2022 crown. The contest was moved due to Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbouring country, with Liverpool winning the rights to step in and host last Autumn.
Liverpool’s bid, which caught the eye of BBC and European Broadcasting Union judges, promised to pay homage to Ukraine as the nation remains under siege from Putin’s regime. A two week cultural festival is set to take place across the city leading up to the grand final on 13 May.
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The events promise a blend of local traditional Ukrainian culture with aspects of the city being transformed ahead of the occasion. This will see a new ‘Eurovision gateway’ take shape at the land of the former Churchill Way flyover, with an iconic city sculpture also adorned new colours for the occasion.
Liverpool City Council’s culture team has commissioned a repainting of the Superlambanana which has now reflected the Ukrainian flag. The statue has traditionally been completely yellow but a blue layer of paint has been added to its upper half.
Superlambanana is roughly (17 feet) tall and was designed by New York City-based Japanese artist Taro Chiezo. Since arriving in 1998, it has been placed in a number of different locations around the city, with its current home outside of Avril Robarts Library on Tithebarn Street, part of the Liverpool John Moores Campus.
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