Laura Davis looks at some challenging new programmes to promote a greater awareness of modern art

IT’S sometimes hard to tell what is art and what is not when you’re wandering through Tate Liverpool. A pair of ladders stand next to a wooden partition – a new installation perhaps? A comment on the human impulse to climb to new heights placed in the gallery’s bright foyer next to a clearly recognisable Rodin sculpture?

More likely it’s just some repair work being done, but then again this is the gallery that opened 20 years ago with a pile of bricks as one of its star exhibits.

In 2006, when Portuguese activist Rigo 23 surrounded the stone lions on guard at St Georges Hall in metal cages for the Liverpool Biennial arts festival, people were heard on several separate occasions commenting on the city’s new anti-vandalism scheme.

That’s the problem with modern art – viewing it can be a nerve-wracking experience; there is always a risk that you will accidentally show yourself up.

So while artists create works to be discussed, challenging people’s mind-sets and inspiring them to form opinions, talking loudly in a hushed gallery tends to be as radical as clearing your throat in a library.

Yet an enforced silence is the last thing the people who run Liverpool’s arts organisations say they want. They feel Capital of Culture year should be about everyone engaging with the exhibitions on offer and not being afraid to respond to it, even if that means dismissing a work as a load of rubbish.

That’s why, among the festivals, performances, world premieres, talks and showcases in the 2008 programme, there are lots of courses designed to tempt us to learn a bit more about what we’re seeing.

Tate Liverpool’s “Re-view: Exploring 20th- century art” programme starts today, and is open to all adults, no matter how much or how little they already know about the subject. It ties into the current exhibition of key works from the Tate’s national collection, many of which have never been displayed before in the North West.

“Anyone is welcome, but it tends to mainly be young professionals, doctors, people who have full-time work,” says Jean Tormey, curator of public programmes.

“The oldest woman we have on the course is in her early 60s, but we also have people from their early 20s and students who want to study from a different perspective.

“People see it as a social outlet and come along to meet people as well as to learn something, so we try to encourage a lot of group discussion. When they arrive, there is tea in the café and a lot of people go for a drink at the end.”

The two-hour evening sessions are broken into two parts – the first is an introduction by a Tate curator, the second is spent in smaller groups and takes place inside the galleries next to the artworks under discussion.

“We don’t tell people ‘this is the story’, we have debates and encourage people to exchange with each other and challenge each other,” says Jean, who is from Dublin and spent a year working in New York before moving to Liverpool two years ago.

“The history of modern and contemporary art is the history of life. Culture, politics . . . it’s all reflected in visual art. One of our tutors is a musician and I think it can help relating the art to what was happening in music at the same period, because people tend to know more about music and find that less intimidating.”

Not everyone on the course is a big fan of the works at the Tate – even sceptics are welcome.

“We do get people coming along who completely don’t believe in modern art and think it’s the emperor’s new clothes. They find, when they learn more about the artists and the terrain the works were produced against, they have more of an understanding,” explains Jean.

“I think visual art, in particular, necessitates more research than just a walk around a gallery because you can walk around and not really get an idea of what it’s all about.

“Conceptual art can be difficult to understand because it’s about being in the mind of the artist, and the idea the artist had when creating the work, rather than what’s just on display in the artwork.”

Across the city centre, independent gallery Dot-art is taking a different approach to encouraging art appreciation.

Based on Queen Avenue, off Castle Street, it is running a series of personal development workshops that aim to bring out people’s creative sides.

Irish life coach Helen Collins will be visiting Liverpool from her home in Spain to teach the courses, which encourage people to develop their natural artistic talent.

“All activities are based on a person-centred approach to training and personal development. Each participant is encouraged throughout to learn at the pace which suits them best,” she says.

“A crucial part of every workshop is the creation and maintenance of a safe atmosphere. When people feel relaxed and safe with one another, they are then able to look at what is stopping them expressing their creativity. What is getting in the way?

“It could be how a person views the question ‘What is an Artist’ . . . do I need to be a Picasso? A Roger McGough? Do I need to have a hard time, be eccentric?”

“Such learning can be endlessly fascinating and above all fun to be part of.”

The exhibition DLA Piper Series: The Twentieth Century – How it Looked & How it Felt, at Tate Liverpool, runs until April 1, 2009.

lauradavis@dailypost.co.uk