LIVERPOOL.- A huge tapestry, created to celebrate Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2008, has gone on display at the Museum of Liverpool.

Following on from Mike McCartney’s Liverpool exhibition which ended on 15 April in the Skylight Gallery, The Liverpool Tapestry: People, Places and Passions opened on Friday 27 April until Sunday 9 September.

Conceived and funded by Home Bargains, the Tapestry has been produced by more than 150 people, who have hand-stitched 338 individual tapestry panels to make up the triptych, which cumulatively spans over six metres in length.

The panels feature iconic images including Superlambananas, the city’s historic buildings, and aspects of Liverpool that have special meaning for the individual embroiderers.

Janet Dugdale, Director of the Museum of Liverpool said: “The Liverpool Tapestry is a great example of the reason that the Museum of Liverpool is here. The exhibitions and displays continue to be created for and by the people of this city, told through their passion for the place they live. The Tapestry follows this ethos perfectly, and we are extremely thankful to Home Bargains for enabling us to display it in the Skylight Gallery.”

Joe Morris, Operations Director of Home Bargains said: “The process of creating the Liverpool Tapestry began with Home Bargain’s Go Create 08 campaign as a way to get people to be more hands on and involved in the Capital of Culture celebrations by producing something themselves.

“The Tapestry has 338 pieces, which each show a piece of Liverpool that’s important to the person who created it. I have looked at it many times and see something new each time; it keeps you spellbound for hours. I hope visitors to the Museum of Liverpool will get the same enjoyment from it when it goes on display.”

Joe created a panel of work himself of a Home Bargains shop front and many other groups and individuals have had the chance to add their own creations during a two year-long process, including school children from Merchant Taylors’ School.

Gill Roberts from the Merseyside Embroiderers’ Guild said: “Over the course of 25 workshops we worked with people of all ages from across the city, who each brought their own inspiration and unique ideas to the project.

“The work is so delicate and skilled that it took a long time to pull it all together, but I know people will be impressed by the hard work that went into the Tapestry, and the finished result is breathtaking.”

Displayed opposite The Liverpool Cityscape in the Skylight Gallery at the top of the Museum’s sweeping staircase, the Liverpool Tapestry, represents the people, places and passions of Liverpool.

Home Bargains has sponsored the Skylight Gallery for a two-year period, which begins with the display of the Liverpool Tapestry, enabling the space to be used for future exhibitions and associated community programmes.

Janet Dugdale added: “At a time when budgets are being cut and funding for our Museums is reduced, sponsorship from companies such as Home Bargains is a lifeline to National Museums Liverpool, allowing us to develop new exhibitions. We are grateful for this opportunity to provide a changing programme in the Skylight Gallery, one of the Museum of Liverpool’s special exhibition spaces.”