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Creative Folkestone Artworks

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Folkestone’s outdoor public art exhibition – Folkestone Artworks – is the UK’s largest urban outdoor contemporary art exhibition,[1] consisting of 74 contemporary artworks by 46 artists in scenic locations around the town and its coastline. Artworks include those by Lubaina Himid, Tracey Emin, Yoko Ono and Antony Gormley.[2] Folkestone Artworks is refreshed every three years, as permanent works commissioned for the Folkestone Triennial are incorporated.[2] Folkestone Artworks is maintained and cared for by Creative Folkestone on behalf of the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust.[3]

Commissioned artists and their artworks often respond directly to the town of Folkestone itself and with the specific site in mind, reflecting both the town and its community whilst also reflecting broader themes.  Creative Folkestone’s CEO, Alastair Upton notes that the artists “work with the grain of the history and the grain of the land to make something and people can come and read that but of course they’re artists so there is a universality".[4]

Notable artworks reflecting this ethos include Sol Calero’s Casa Anacaona,  built by the artist working with members of the community as part of the Creative Folkestone Triennial 2017. Lubaina Himid’s Jelly Mould Pavilion, a public pavilion commissioned in 2007, reveals the town’s history with themes of universality whilst also offering shade, opportunities for conversation and invites contemplation on a sandy beach looking out to the sea. Pilar Quinteros's Janus Fortress Folkestone artwork launched in May 2021 is part of the 2021 Folkestone Triennial, 'The Plot' and England's Creative Coast.[5]

Some of the artworks  are more of a personal nature, including Tracey Emin’s Baby Things -  a seven-part collection of bronze sculptures, including a teddy bear that sits on a platform at Folkestone Central railway station. Mark Wallinger’s Folk Stones reflects a more universal theme, consisting of 19,240 numbered stones, the exact number of soldiers killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916.[6]

A volunteer-led project, Online Placemaking,[7] resulted in all 72 Artworks being geo-located on Google Maps for the first time in March 2021.

Artists and Artworks

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Artist Artwork Date of Triennial/ Installation
Adam Chodzko Pyramid 2008
Christian Boltanski The Whispers 2008
Mark Dion The Mobile Gull Appreciation Unit 2008
Mark Wallinger Folk Stones 2008
Nathan Colley Heaven is a Place Where Nothing Ever Happens 2008
Pae White Barking Rocks 2008
Patrick Tuttofuoco FOLKESTONE 2008
Richard Wilson 18 Holes 2008
Richard Wentworth Racinated 2008
Tracey Emin Baby Things 2008
A K Dolven Out of Tune 2011
Cornelia Parker Folkestone Mermaid 2011
Cristina Iglesias Towards the Sound of Wilderness 2011
Hamish Fulton 31 Walks from Water to Water 1971-2010 Made on Western Europe 2011
Paloma Varga Weisz Rug People 2011
Ruth Ewan We Could Have Been Anything That We Wanted to Be 2011
Spencer Finch The Colour of Water 2011
Tonico Lemos Auad Carrancas 2011
Diane Dever and Jonathan Wright Pent Houses 2014
Ian Hamilton Finlay Weather is Third to Place and Time 2014
Jyll Bradley Green/Light (for M.R.) 2014
Michael Sailstorfer Folkestone Digs 2014
Muf Architecture/Art Payers Park 2014
Pablo Bronstein Beach Hut in the Style of Nicholas Hawksmoor 2014
rootoftwo Whithervanes: A Neurotic Early Worrying System (NEWS) 2014
Sarah Staton Steve 2014
Strange Cargo The Luckiest Place on Earth 2014
Tim Etchells Is Why The Place? 2014
Will Kwan Apparatus #9 (The China Watchers Oxford University, MI6, HSBC) 2014
Yoko Ono SKYLADDER 2014
Yoko Ono Earth Peace 2014
Amalia Pica Souvenir 2017
Antony Gormley Another Time 1999-2013 2017
Bill Woodrow The Ledge 2017
Bob and Roberta Smith FOLKESTONE IS AN ART SCHOOL 2017
David Shrigley Lamp Post (as remembered) 2017
Diane Dever and The Decorators Customs House, Urban Room Folkestone 2017
Gary Woodley Impingement No. 66 ‘Cube Circumscribed by Tetrahedron - Tetrahedron Circumscribed by Cube’ 2017
Jonathan Wright Fleet on Foot 2017
Marc Schmitz + Dolger Ser-Od Sire 2017
Michael Craig-Martin Folkestone Lightbulb 2017
Richard Woods Holiday Home 2017
Rigo 23 Through the Glassworks, Earth’s Oldest Satellite, Me and You, Some in Fewture 1990-2017 2017
Sinta Tantra 1947 2017
Sol Calero Casa Anacaona 2017
Studio Ben Allen The Clearing 2017

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Grimshaw, Sophy (25 March 2021). "The Best Way To Explore Folkestone's Urban, Open-air Art Gallery". The Independent. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b "The UK's largest urban outdoor exhibition of contemporary art". Creative Folkestone. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Folkestone". The Roger de Haan Charitable Trust. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  4. ^ Rosslyn, Helen (29 July 2019). "In The Frame: Discover the al fresco art on offer in Folkestone". Tatler. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Pilar Quinteros - 'Janus Fortress Folkestone' - for Folkestone". England's Creative Coast. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Folkestone Artworks is a public art collection on permanent display in spaces around the town". Art Fund_. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Online Placemaking". Pioneering Places East Kent. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2021.