Is toilet art festival Leicester's answer to the Loo-vre?

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Cubicle Your Fears by Richard DeDomeniciImage source, Natasha James / Crosscut Media
Image caption,
The works are on display in seven different locations, in a bid to make art more accessible to the public

Seven toilets are to become the unusual setting for a new European-wide art festival.

The Leicester lavatories - all accessible to members of the public - are due to host the show called Accessible Art For All.

Leicester will be the first of five cities to host the exhibition, with others including Rome, Hamburg and Sofia.

Organisers said they hoped to "start a trend of artwork in toilets".

Image source, Natasha James / Crosscut Media
Image caption,
Some of the toilet artwork is as simple as changing the text on cubicle door locks
Image source, Natasha James / Crosscut Media
Image caption,
Oliwia Bober's work Hand in Hand is one of the exhibits

Artists due to exhibit in the unusual location include Richard DeDomenici, who has exhibited work at the Tate Gallery and the British Museum.

He said: "This is a great place to put art in because I think that art is at its most powerful when it's experienced non-art audiences."

Mr DeDomenici work's, called Cubicle Your Fears, is inspired by his previous work that featured in the Tate Modern and British Museum, where two strangers would go into a shed and talk about their fears.

Some of those fears now feature on the walls of a toilet cubicle.

He added: "We're inviting people to contribute their own fears. People can write their own fears on the wall and become part of the artwork.

"I'm hoping by sharing our fears we can, in some way, transcend them."

Image source, Natasha James / Crosscut Media
Image caption,
Hands of Freedom by Vishal Joshi is also on display at Leicester Cathedral

Beth Piggott, from Artreach, an arts development organisation, said it was the weirdest exhibition she had ever organised.

"The reason we decided to put artwork in toilets is sometimes people find galleries challenging, whereas we know that [the toilet] is somewhere lots of people use, and it's an easy way of getting our art out to the public," she said.

"I've been blown away by the works. I really think we are going to start a trend of seeing more artwork in toilets from now on."

Image source, Natasha James / Crosscut Media
Image caption,
The works can also be caught at Leicester Museum

Other displays can be found at public toilets in Highcross Shopping Centre, LCB Depot, Manhattan 34, The Exchange, and Leicester Museum and Art Gallery.

They are part of a wider Liberty UK Festival, running in Leicester until 15 August.

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