30 August – 2 November 2014

The Folkestone Triennial is one of the most ambitious public art projects presented in the UK.

Located in the seaside town of Folkestone on the south-east coast of England, artists are invited to use the town as their ‘canvas’, utilising public spaces to create striking new pieces that reflect issues affecting both the town and the wider world. Artists commissioned to take part in previous triennials include Cornelia Parker, Tracey Emin, Jeremy Deller, Martin Creed and Richard Wilson.

The Folkestone Triennial takes place every three years and is one of the 5 key projects of theCreative Foundation, which is an independent visionary arts charity dedicated to enabling the regeneration of Folkestone through creative activity. Working with the people of Folkestone, partners and other stakeholders, the Creative Foundation is transforming the town making it a better place to live, work, visit and study.

Established in 2002 the Creative Foundation has a remarkable record of success having already transformed the old town of Folkestone, around the scenic harbour, into a Creative Quarter populated by artists and home to creative industries and education providers. Three hundred jobs have been created and ninety buildings have been restored in the Creative Quarter and the Quarterhouse, a performance venue for music, theatre, dance and comedy has been built. The area has been animated by two internationally acclaimed visual art Triennials;Folkestone Artworks is a significant and permanent contemporary art collection, a full performance programme and an annual Book Festival.

Theme

The lookout has always been an important part of Folkestone’s history as a port. The people of Folkestone have looked out to sea, from its humble beginnings as a Roman fishing village, to a wealthy trade port in the thirteenth century and the main embarkation point for soldiers fighting in the First World War. The lookout is the person who sees what is coming over the horizon. It is also the structure from which one keeps watch. The act of looking out demands that one takes up a physical position in order to get a perspective on the future.

Internationally recognised contemporary artists have been invited to engage with Folkestone’s rich cultural history and the town’s built environment. They will exhibit newly commissioned work in public spaces around the town. Some of these will become permanent additions to the landscape, alongside works from the previous two editions of the Triennial in 2008 and 2011. By inviting people to consider the art in its context, Folkestone Triennial will offer a new perspective on the town and on global futures, as well as establishing a lasting legacy that aims to continue the regeneration of Folkestone as a cultural destination and a place to live, work, visit and study.

Visitors to Lookout will be physically and emotionally transported to glimpse different perspectives on the future through an array of fabulous new artworks. They will be invited to reflect on the artists’ hopes and fears about universal issues: the gap between rich and poor, climate and environment, demography and migration, sustainability, regeneration, technology and communication, urban design, social engineering, food security and all the other aspects of our daily lives that are changing ever faster. With a population of just 45,000, Folkestone can be a lens through which we look out at the world and question what’s happening now and what’s coming next.

Curator

Lewis Biggs stepped down as the Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Liverpool Biennial last July after ten years in the role, during which time the ten week Biennial Festival became one of the most exciting and best attended arts events in the country. Internationally recognised as ‘the UK’s Biennial’, the 2010 Festival attracted nearly one million visits by over 500,000 visitors.

Lewis Biggs was Director of Tate Liverpool 1990-2000, and has been commissioning art for public spaces in a regeneration context since co-curating ‘Artranspennine’ with Robert Hopper in 1998. For Liverpool Biennial, he brought Anthony Gormley’sAnother Place to Crosby Beach in 2005, and in 2007 commissioned Turning the Place Over, from Folkestone Triennial 2008 artist Richard Wilson. These and other initiatives contributed to Liverpool’s programme as European Capital of Culture 2008.

Lewis Biggs is currently a Visiting Professor in Contemporary Art at Liverpool John Moores and Shanghai Universities, and an Honorary Professor at Glasgow University. He is a curator for the 2013 Aichi Triennale (Nagoya, Japan).

Mr Upton said “We are delighted to welcome Lewis to the Folkestone Triennial. He brings with him a wealth of experience and his enthusiasm for community engagement in place-making without compromising artistic integrity will be an exciting new direction for the Triennial.”

Contact

Creative Foundation
The Block
65-69 Tontine Street
Folkestone CT20 1JR
Tel: 01303 245799
Fax: 01303 223761

[email protected]

> via folkestonetriennial.org.uk