LIVERPOOL’S world famous festival of contemporary art has secured £1.2m of funding that will ensure it goes ahead in 2010.

Next year’s Biennial has been given the theme “Touched” its director also announced yesterday.

The organisation has raised £600,000 from the European Regional Development Fund and £425,000 from the Northwest Regional Development Agency.

A further £175,000 comes as a North West Development Agency grant to pay for the marketing campaign.

Biennial director Lewis Biggs said last night: “The discussions within the curatorial team set out with the recognition that if art is to be memorable, interesting or influential it has to start by moving us.

“Touched presents affective art, and so becomes a sketch map of the affections – passion, rage, lust, pleasure, fear and joy.”

Liverpool Biennial is the largest contemporary visual arts event in the UK.

It had 975,000 visits during 2008 making it one of the best attended in the world.

In Capital of Culture year it generated an estimated economic impact of more than £26m for the region.

The 2010 international show will celebrate a decade of commissioning new art, totalling more than 200 artworks.

The curatorial team for Touched is Lorenzo Fusi, for non-gallery sites, Peter Gorschluter of Tate Liverpool, Patrick Henry, of the Open Eye Gallery, Sara-Jayne Parsons from the Bluecoat, FACT’s Mike Stubbs and Mark Waugh of the A Foundation.

New commissions will be announced in early spring.