Passengers can patent a penguin
Passengers on public transport are being offered the chance to patent their very own penguin.
As part of its involvement as presenting partner for Go Penguins, Merseytravel is giving one of its three penguins to the public of Merseyside.
The open competition is open to anyone to create their own striking designs.
An artist will be chosen to bring the winning design to life as part of the magical transformation of Liverpool into an Antarctic wonderland this winter.
Councillor Mark Dowd, Chair of Merseytravel, said: “The Superlambananas captured the public imagination so spectacularly last year and we hope Go Penguins will do likewise. Competitions for people to design their own Superlambananas were a huge success and now we are opening up this competition to everyone for Go Penguins.”
To enter designs and for full the terms and conditions people can visit www.merseytravel.gov.uk
All art forms will be considered including traditional or new media, sound or video or poetry and photography and the competition runs until September 25th 2009.
Neil Scales, Chief Executive and Director General of Merseytravel added: “We don’t want to restrict people’s creativity so have a totally open mind about what will make a winning entry. Once the winner has been chosen we will find a top artist to bring it to life and we will display it for everyone to see on the transport network.”
Merseytravel has commissioned three of the penguins in the Go Penguins colony, which will total more than 100 as part of a unique Winters Trail.
The second is being designed by the children of Claire House Hospice in Wirral, Merseytravel’s corporate charity for 2009.
A design for the third will be chosen by Merseytravel from portfolio of creative ideas submitted through the Go Penguins call to artists submission process.
Go Penguins is a mass participation public art event, commissioned by Culture Liverpool and organised by Wild in Art – the team behind 2008’s hugely successful Go Superlambananas.
From mid-November, colonies of small and large penguins will be on display for seven weeks in a special Liverpool city centre trail.
For more information about Go Penguins, visit www.gopenguins.co.uk
The initiative is a highlight of A Winter’s Trail which runs from November to January and will see a series of special penguin-themed events take place across the city, with the support of numerous cultural organisations.
Go Penguins have been inspired by Liverpool’s Year of the Environment, and the festive spectacular also aims to raise awareness of climate change by reflecting on the melting of the ice caps in Antarctica.
Merseytravel is also an official partner of Year of the Environment.
