Scroll down to watch the Ben, Rosa's and Lovelocks story...
Right Here, Right Now
Lovelocks Coffee Shop proudly hosts new works by Rosa Kusabbi and Ben Youdan - two powerful expressions of queer community in Liverpool today.
Rosa’s mural bursts with colour and joy, celebrating the importance of safe, welcoming spaces where LGBTQIA+ people can gather, organise, and simply be. It reflects the spirit of Lovelocks itself: vibrant, loving, and rooted in togetherness.
Alongside it now sits Ben Youdan’s mixed-media installation Resistance through Existence. Originally commissioned for the Queer Places Heritage Trail and due to be shown at St George’s Hall, the work was withdrawn after concerns that it would be censored. Ben’s piece honours queer and trans icons, hidden histories, and the ongoing fight for visibility.
Together, Rosa and Ben’s artworks show the full spectrum of queer experience - joy and resistance, care and defiance - insisting that our stories deserve to be seen.
Both artworks are on view during opening hours.
Lovelocks Coffee Shop: Mon–Fri 8am–4pm | Sat 10am–4pm
Lovelocks Coffee Shop: Mon–Fri 8am–4pm | Sat 10am–4pm
Watch the Lovelocks story...
If These Walls Could Talk: Rosa Kusabbi, Lovelocks. Produced for the Queer Places Heritage Trail as part of Homotopia Festival 2025, by Alessia Naccari
Watch Ben's story...
If These Walls Could Talk: Ben Youdan, Lovelocks. Produced for the Queer Places Heritage Trail as part of Homotopia Festival 2025, by Alessia Naccari
Events...
Meet the Artists...
Rosa Kusabbi (She/Her)
Rosa Kusabbi is an Illustrator based in Liverpool. Her work is all about celebrating Queer joy, female empowerment, and raising awareness around social issues like climate justice. Rosa blends contemporary illustration with influences from vintage protest posters, creating bold, rebellious pieces that amplify voices that often go unheard. She’s passionate about using her art to uplift and empower underrepresented communities, and she brings this ethos into everything she does.
https://rosakusabbi.com or @rosa_illustration_ on Instagram!
Ben Youdan (He/Him)
Ben Youdan is a visual artist based in Liverpool, U.K. His mixed media work employs a wide variety of techniques and processes including collage, drawing, painting, printmaking and photography, to create imagery that takes inspiration from the iconography and ephemera of popular culture as well as his lived experience. His pieces explore themes such as identity, glamour and sexuality in an unapologetically Queer fashion.
www.benyoudanart.com or @benyoudanart on Instagram
Alessia Naccari (She/Her)
Alessia is a Liverpool- based videographer and storyteller whose work celebrates queer identities and visibility. She is the co-founder of Lavender Nights, curating safe spaces and events for the FLINTA community. She has recently been nominated for an Iris Prize Award for her short film, ‘Sappho Girls’.
@alessiajadee on Instagram