England's Creative Coast

Due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, England's Creative Coast has been postponed to Spring 2021. Full details of launch dates will be announced in Autumn 2020.

About England’s Creative Coast

Seaside towns alive with creativity, breathtaking coastal landscape and some of the most thought-provoking contemporary art being produced today – England’s Creative Coast spans 1400km of shoreline from the South Downs to the Thames Estuary.

The beautiful and dramatic landscape of England’s Creative Coast has inspired artists for centuries and in 2021, seven new site-specific artworks by seven international contemporary artists – Andreas Angelidakis, Mariana Castillo Deball, Holly Hendry, Jasleen Kaur, Katrina Palmer, Pilar Quinteros and Michael Rakowitz – will connect the coastlines of Essex, Kent and East Sussex and the world-class arts organisations in these places.

The Waterfronts series of artworks will be set in the landscape of Margate, Folkestone, Hastings, Bexhill-on-Sea, Eastbourne, Gravesend and Southend-on-Sea. Taking the border between land and water as their inspiration, each artist will respond to these unique coastal locations, focusing on issues, stories and questions related to the area to offer fresh perspectives on each place.

We will be working with Pilar Quinteros to create an artwork for Folkestone.

• Turner Contemporary in Margate presents Michael Rakowitz: April is the cruellest month
• The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea presents Holly Hendry: Invertebrate
• Creative Folkestone presents Pilar Quinteros: Janus’ Fortress: Folkestone
• Towner Eastbourne presents Mariana Castillo Deball ‘Walking through the town I followed a pattern on the pavement that became the magnified silhouette of a woman’s profile’
• Cement Fields in Gravesend presents Jasleen Kaur: The first thing I did was to kiss the ground
• Metal in Southend-on-Sea presents Katrina Palmer: Hello and Retreat

England’s Creative Coast encompasses a whole cultural travel experience. Through the world’s first art GeoTour, you will be able to game as you move through the landscape, discovering the commissioned artworks, finding hidden gems and geocaches created by the communities that live there in these coastal towns through a digital treasure trail that extends into the surrounding landscape.

To plan your trip to see these time-limited artworks you can curate your own journey using the England’s Creative Coast itinerary website at www.englandscreativecoast.com and find further cultural adventures.

England’s Creative Coast is led by Turner Contemporary and Visit Kent and aims to inspire visitors to the region. The project is principally funded by Arts Council England’s Cultural Destinations programme and Visit England/Visit Britain through the Discover England Fund, supported by South East Local Enterprise Partnership, East Sussex County Council, Kent County Council, Essex County Council, Visit Essex, Southend Borough Council, Coastal West Sussex, Historic Dockyard Chatham and Southeastern and is in partnership with Creative Folkestone, De La Warr Pavilion, Jerwood Gallery, Metal, Towner Art Gallery, Whitstable Biennale, Pallant House Gallery, Cass Sculpture Foundation and Arundel Castle.