'Fishcotheque' in failed Southampton City of Culture bid

The campaign to make Southampton UK City of Culture 2025 was launched in 2020

A live link to a cornershop in Pakistan, a "fishcotheque" and park illuminations were among proposals for Southampton's failed UK City of Culture bid, it has been revealed.

Southampton made the shortlist to be named UK City of Culture for 2025 but lost out to Bradford.

Now the contents of the bid, which were previously kept secret, have been made public for the first time.

Southampton Culture Trust said some of the proposals would still go ahead.

It said it would "re-package elements of the bid to be rolled out over the next three years, albeit at a different scale and pace, to maximise the legacy of the bidding process".

The original proposals included The Fishcotheque - an art installation based on the sounds of the sea, created by the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton author Philip Hoare, musician Brian Eno and artist Haroon Mirza.

'Energised'

Other plans included a project and art installation by artist Darrell Vydelingum about the contribution corner shops have made to British streets, particularly during Covid-19.

The installation in John Hansard Gallery was due to include "a live digital portal to a shop in Karachi", curated by Pakistani artist Rashid Rana.

The illuminations, planned for Riverside Park, would allow people to walk through "crystal sphere plants and experience an aerial ballet of floating birds".

It has not been confirmed which proposals may still go ahead.

Trust CEO Claire Whitaker said: "More than anything, the process of going through the bid has energised not only the city of Southampton but the whole region where we have the support of all our neighbours."

The three-year campaign resulted in £13m of funding from Arts Council England.

The trust said its objectives were to "boost tourism and the local economy, make Southampton more attractive to inward investors, and make the city a better place in which to live, work, visit and play".