Creative Folkestone have announced that the fifth Folkestone Triennial will now take place in 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19/Coronavirus pandemic. The largest exhibition of newly commissioned work presented in the UK, Folkestone Triennial was due to run from Saturday 5 September – Sunday 8 November 2020 and will now be postponed until 2021.
In the interim, Creative Folkestone will develop a programme of artistic activity that focusses on community, education, and digital projects. Creative Folkestone Artworks, the UK's largest urban contemporary (outdoor) art exhibition – currently consisting of 74 permanent artworks by 46 artists – continues to act as an inspiring resource for the town.
Alastair Upton, Chief Executive, Creative Folkestone said: "It is with a heavy heart that we announce that Creative Folkestone Triennial is to be postponed. We are facing colossal challenges across the cultural sector and we must put the needs and safety of our communities and audiences first when making our decisions. In adversity, art offers hope and Creative Folkestone will continue to present work in new ways as we prepare for the return of Folkestone Triennial in 2021. Next year Folkestone Triennial will happen and it will be a celebration of everything we have overcome and will look ahead to a future of possibilities."
Lewis Biggs, Curator, Creative Folkestone Triennial said: “The Triennial is proud to treat the town of Folkestone as the arena in which artworks are presented. Artists who work with outdoor urban space have to contend with the real, material world in all the ways that it is constructed: through infrastructural and financial investment, through social behaviours and the law, through the history and geography of place. The current pandemic is one more way through which urban space is constructed, perhaps not even the most challenging. We have every confidence that the exhibiting artists will adapt, will continue to project their concerns, and help to intrigue, inspire and bring solace to everyone who visits The Plot in 2021”.
Curator Lewis Biggs and the Creative Folkestone team are working hard to establish new dates for Folkestone Triennial and will announce information as soon as possible. In the meantime, stay safe, look after each other and never stop looking for inspiration wherever you may find it.