“Folkestone Artworks” has been announced as the new name for the collection of works originally commissioned by The Creative Foundation for the Folkestone Triennial that are now on permanent display in public spaces in the town. The collection can be enjoyed by residents and visitors of any age, free of charge, all year round.
The Creative Foundation has announced the official launch of the collection during the bank holiday weekend, Friday 3 – Monday 6 May, to be marked by the unveiling of a new website, location map and guide, a programme of talks and tours, audio guide, learning resources for schools and colleges, film screenings at Quarterhouse, family activities and other imaginative events and ways of experiencing the collection. The full launch programme for the weekend will be announced in March.
Folkestone Artworks includes works that remained on display from each of the 2008 and 2011 Triennials. The collection now boasts 16 high calibre artworks commissioned especially for the exhibition. It is envisaged that Folkestone Artworks will continue to grow after each new Triennial, helping to further develop Folkestone’s reputation as a unique destination in the UK for those who enjoy contemporary art.
Experiencing this new way of looking at art outside the confines of a gallery or institutional setting encourages different ways of seeing, learning and thinking about contemporary art. It’s fun to explore and to discover the artworks as well as places in the town you may not have seen before”.
The collection stretches from the east to the west of Folkestone. It can be enjoyed as part of a leisurely stroll or a brisk walk, depending on the time available, and it makes for a great cycle ride or even a cultural dog walk! It even includes a dog’s play park, Pae White’s Barking Rocks, situated just off The Leas in Pleydell Gardens.
Folkestone Artworks includes work by artists as celebrated as Turner Prize nominee Tracey Emin, whose seven-part sculpture Baby Things is a tender, subtle yet poignant response to her perception of the prevalence of teenage pregnancies in the town. 2007 Turner Prize winner Mark Wallinger’s ‘Folk Stones’ has a profound underpinning, 19,240 numbered stones, the exact number of soldiers killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and can be found close to the Leas Cliff Hall.