Hollywood Homeless showcase their skills

Pictures taken on the ferry across the Mersey by homeless people of Liverpool (courtesy of Flickr)

The bombed-out church was booming as the 'Hollywood Homeless' showcased their artwork and made music on plastic drums.

Over 60 rough sleepers joined together in collaboration with photography group Fab Collective and musical artists, Urban Strawberry Lunch, to produce music and art as part of a multimedia exhibition and performance.

An audience gathered in the ruins of St Luke’s Church on Berry Street, as blue plastic barrels were beaten by performers in a carefully rehearsed sequence.

The tribal-esque music could be heard from far around the city centre, which attracted intrigued public spectators to step inside the church ruins.

The show finished around 6pm, after which guests were
invited to admire the artwork as part of the Hollywood
Homeless initiative, which was started in November 2009.

Fab Collective joined up with Urban Strawberry Lunch over
the winter period to engage with the homeless and
encourage their artistic flair.

They took homeless people out around Liverpool for two to
three hours a day capturing what they thought Liverpool
meant to them.

Liz Carlisle, Administrative Director of Urban Strawberry
Lunch has been working on the project since its launch.
She said: “I remember one brilliant day we had. We took
26 people on the ferry to take photos. It was like the
maddest school trip ever.

“We found out that a lot of people had lived in Liverpool all their lives and never been on the ferry across the Mersey.”

Pictures taken were selected and edited to the author’s personal taste and are now being displayed around St Luke’s Church this week.

In addition to the photographs, others of those homeless people were taught how to play barrel drums at the Black-E on Great George Street.

Mark Lea, part of Fab Collective said: "More than any group of people I’ve met for a long time, I came across the sort of camaraderie that only comes from a shared experience. We had our problems of course; we got kicked out of The Black-E because one of the group was abusive to a member of staff."

Homeless Michelle enjoyed the experience. She said: “We’ve got nothing but we’re happy.”

Hollywood Homeless will be performing again this week on Thursday and Friday from 1pm.