Visionary arts charity Creative Folkestone has announced that Sorcha Carey will direct the next edition of the Folkestone Triennial. Following ten years as director of Edinburgh Art Festival, Carey is currently the Director of Collective and is well-known as a leader that is equally passionate about developing artists’ practice and broadening audiences.
Folkestone Triennial is the flagship project of Creative Folkestone and one of the largest exhibitions of newly commissioned work, presented in the UK every three years. Since 2008, Folkestone Triennial has invited world-class and critically acclaimed artists to create new work inspired by the town, landscape, and history. Previous editions of the festival have included artists such as Antony Gormley, Cornelia Parker, Lubaina Himid, Michael Sailstorfer, Rana Begum, Tracey Emin, and many more.
The appointment of Sorcha Carey marks a new era for Folkestone Triennial and the establishment of a working relationship with Collective, a contemporary art space in Edinburgh of which Carey is Director. The collaboration demonstrates the ongoing ambitions of both organisations to work across borders and their commitment to developing artists.
Sorcha Carey, Curator Folkestone Triennial, said: “I am thrilled to have been invited to curate the next edition of the Folkestone Triennial. As a curator who has specialised in bringing art out of the gallery and into a diverse range of public spaces, and as the Director of Collective, an organisation dedicated to working with artists to develop and produce new projects, the Triennial has always held a special place in the calendar, and I have followed its development closely from the first.
I am very much looking forward to working closely with the communities of Folkestone as well as the Creative Folkestone team, to continue to place the perspectives of artists at the heart of this remarkable coastal town.”
Alastair Upton, Chief Executive Creative Folkestone, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sorcha as curator for the next Folkestone Triennial. Throughout five editions, Folkestone Triennial has embedded art and creativity into the very fabric of the town. Together, artists and visitors have turned Folkestone into an art school and a place where transformative things happen. Now, in Sorcha’s hands, I am excited to see what new perspectives, new possibilities, and new prospects will be explored and unearthed.”
The fifth and most successful Folkestone Triennial took place in 2021. Following a delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Triennial welcomed over 220,000 visitors to the town. One of the cornerstones of the town’s recent regeneration, Folkestone Triennial has grown in popularity locally, nationally and internationally.
Carey follows curators Lewis Biggs (2014, 2017 & 2021) and Andrea Schlieker (2008 & 2011) in presenting her vision for the festival.
Dates for the next Folkestone Triennial will be announced in 2023.