Superlambananas return for good

© Trinity Mirror

Council Leader Warren Bradley with the Superlambananas that symbolise the spirit of Liverpool's people

Eight new Superlambananas are now on show in Liverpool as a permanent legacy of the Capital of Culture.

The 'Eight for 08' Superlambananas were
designed to reflect the character of the people
of Liverpool and different aspects of the city
including comedy, music, architecture,
environment, inventors, heroes and a special
Superlambananas that first hit the streets in 2008.

Sally Ann Wilkinson, Director of Wild In Art that delivered the popular Superlambanana trail of 08, said: "Go Superlambananas captured the spirit of Liverpool - it brought many people together and was a celebration
of the city's sense of fun and community participation.”

The iconic statues were commissioned by the Liverpool City Council and
designed by the Echo’s ‘Design a Superlambanana competition’. They are
being exhibited now on The Strand in front of the world famous Cunard and
Liver Buildings. In April they will be relocated to Lime Street station’s new
entrance.

Councillor Warren Bradley, Leader of Liverpool City Council, said: ''We
wanted to create an artistic legacy of what Liverpool enjoyed from being
European Capital of Culture, something that captured the spirit of the year
and the magic of the amazing creativity and Go Superlambananas fits the
bill perfectly.''

One of the eight lambananas, Architecture, will act as ‘an international
ambassador’ in the World EXPO in Shanghai this coming May, where it
will be seen by a potential 70 million people.

The superlambanana’s include;

Comedy, created by artist Philip Marsden and inspired by ECHO reader
Noah Kinvig’s Clowning Around;

Music, created by Vince Cleghorne and inspired by the Beatles Superlambanana;

Architecture, by Debbie Ryan, which came from three shortlisted entries – Cathedralambanana, Merseytunnelambanana and AlbertSuperdockbanana;

Environment, created by artist Holly Langley, which celebrates the return of wildlife to the River Mersey;

Liverpool Firsts, by Alex Jackson, based on Supercrosswordbanana and Arthur Wynne, a Liverpool journalist who emigrated to the United States and created the first crossword puzzle;

Heroes, from artist Roz Hargreaves, inspired by Superchavasselambanana design celebrating double VC holder Noel Chavasse;

Go SLBs, from artist Candida Boyes, came from Supercoatofmanylambananas and commemorates the statues that invaded Liverpool in 2008.

Superlambananas captured the spirit and magic of 2008