insideKENT Magazine Issue 88 - July 2019 | Page 51

VISITKENT
EXPLORE THE
FOLKESTONE ARTWORKS
EXHIBITION
FOLKESTONE ARTWORKS, THE UK’S LARGEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION, IS FREE AND ACCESSIBLE
24 HOURS A DAY, 365 DAYS A YEAR. SITUATED OUTDOORS AROUND THE TOWN AND HARBOUR, THE ARTWORKS
POP UP IN BOTH SCENIC AND SURPRISING LOCATIONS. THE CHANGING EXHIBITION, CURRENTLY CONSISTING
OF 74 ARTWORKS BY 46 ARTISTS INCLUDING TRACEY EMIN, ANTONY GORMLEY, YOKO ONO, MARK WALLINGER,
CORNELIA PARKER, BILL WOODROW, MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN AND IAN HAMILTON FINLAY OFFERS AN EXPERIENCE
LIKE NOWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD: GREAT CONTEMPORARY ART WITH AN INVITATION TO EXPLORE, EXAMINE
AND UNDERSTAND THE TOWN’S GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY AND POTENTIAL FUTURE.
With only one or two exceptions, the artworks have
been made by artists with specific sites in mind, so
the urban context is ‘borrowed’ to become part of
the artwork. The richness and ‘reality’ of this process
creates a different kind of exhibition from those in
galleries. For instance, Cornelia Parker’s The Folkestone
Mermaid brings an international mythologised
perspective to celebrate a local woman sitting on a
rock alongside other people on the beach. Mark
Wallinger’s Folk Stones were collected locally and
embedded in concrete on The Leas, resonating with
other adjacent memorials.
A unique presentation of outstanding contemporary
art, Folkestone Artworks also tells a variety of stories
about the town. Some stories have already inspired
brilliant artists, others come from residents and
visitors who, inspired by the artworks, form a deeper
appreciation of the town’s past, present and future
both conceptually and emotionally.
The Folkestone Artworks exhibition is a major
cultural attraction, continuously refreshed by
Folkestone Triennial, which has been creating great
media interest since 2008. The exhibition brings tens
of thousands of visitors to the town every year,
generating an economic return worth many times
the investment made. It also provides a continuously
developing resource to many local artists and
educators contributing significant weight to Bob and
Roberta Smith’s view that Folkestone itself is a living
and ever-changing art school.
www.creativefolkestone.org.uk/
folkestoneartworks
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