Tales of time and space - The Folkestone Triennial

Above: The launch of the Folkestone Triennial

Above: Sejla Kameric - Rotunda

Above: Sejla Kameric - The End

Above: Wallinger - Numbering Rocks

Paintings and sculpture, classical forms, video and installation - art covers a wide spectrum of human endeavour. Galleries and museums are where you may expect to find it but, for three months this summer in Folkestone, your perceptions of art and where it should be displayed are likely to be completely turned on their head.

While statues on plinths have been a fundamental part of monumental art over the last millennia, it is only recently that Britain has seen the development of collections of art in open spaces - think of Yorkshire’s Sculpture Park, or Sussex’s Cass Foundation.

Now, not without a considerable helping of boldness, the Creative Foundation, under the aegis of Roger De Haan, ex-Saga millionaire, has been the catalyst for what could arguably be one of Britain’s most ambitious artistic ventures of this century.

A Triennial exhibition is being installed, starting this month, with 23 artists exhibiting, and eventually will see the installation of six or more pieces of work on permanent display in Folkestone.

In three years’ time, another six will be selected, and three years after that, a further six, making a considerable impact on the public spaces in this area. The works will include sculpture, installation, photography, performance and sound and will undoubtably be the subject of much discussion and no doubt some controversy.

Just look at the artists. There are 23 from a wide range of countries. Also, they have been prize-winners and have exhibited in even more countries: I noted Hungary, Korea, Poland, Italy, Germany, America and that is just for starters.

Arguably one of Britain’s most ambitious artistic ventures of this century is taking place in Folkestone

You will find names that you know, from contemporary artistic debate in the UK, including Nathan Coley, Jeremy Deller, Tracey Emin, and Mark Wallinger, as well as artists known in Kent, such as Nils Norman, whose work is informed by urban politics.

You will also find artists who are well known in their own countries, like Robert Kusmirowski and Sejla Kameric, but who have exhibited in such international exhibitions as the Venice Biennale. David Batchelor and Ivan Morison presented talks on colour and on the sci-fi mobile library respectively at the last Folkestone Literary Festival in November 2007.

Generally speaking, contemporary art has been a release from the strictly representational, although where you find a simple and recognisable representation, you may find it is subverted by text or by strange positioning, even though this is not so new: look at Duchamp’s Fountain.

Many of the works on display here will be absolutely cutting edge. You will (hopefully) be made to reflect. You are unlikely to find this is eye candy, and you may discover a new and exciting visual language.

Andrea Schlieker, curator, tells me that the artists were selected specifically for their international reputations and high profile. “There is a combination of the highly acclaimed as well as newly emerging, but all on the international scene,” she says. A further criteria was that they should work in a wide variety of media but that they should be capable of responding to the local context.

The sites for the work were chosen by Andrea, whose idea it was to have a Triennial exhibition, with a team including representatives from the Creative Foundation. They stretch from Martello Tower No. 3, up near the Folkestone Warren, to just slightly east of the Metropole, which will itself house a work by David Batchelor.

“Artists had a totally open brief, and each artist had at least one day or several days to get into the spirit of the town,” she explains. A very precise artists’ brief was formulated by Andrea, a brochure printed with colour photographs of Folkestone, giving the historic background, some notes on the De Haan regeneration project, and details about the people here - both the famous, like H.G. Wells, whose stories gave the title for the exhibition, but also including Jimi Hendrix and Marcel Duchamp.

You are unlikely to find this exhibition is eye candy, and you may well discover a new and exciting visual language

A list of potential sites was included and artists were invited to provide a written proposal. Some of the sites were fairly obvious candidates, for instance the Martello Tower. The process was quite long: sometimes the original proposal was found to be impractical.

However, Andrea was “chuffed” that the artists were so pleased with the document “because it whetted their appetite for Folkestone and they responded with enthusiasm. The artists were really blown away by the creative possibilities and it triggered something.” Notably, the artists were also interested in the fact that Folkestone “has a rough edge” and is in the process of reinventing itself.

Some of the work harks back to historic Folkestone. Christian Boltanski, for instance, will work on World War I love letters found in conjunction with the people of Folkestone. These will be read by descendants of the letter-writers and you will be able to hear them on the Leas.

Turner Prize winner, Mark Wallinger, also works on the theme of commemoration. Tacita Dean, focusing on the maritime heritage, will use an anamorphic lens to make a 16 mm film of a Channel crossing in real time, which will show in the Sassoon Gallery of the library.

Focusing, too, on the seascape, Langlands and Bell will work on the relationship with Boulogne, across the water, in film medium. Patrick Tuttofuoco has created a huge sign to be displayed down in the harbour, which is here to stay.

Sejla Kameric will be creating large black and white photographic images of Folkestone which have “an almost post-apocalyptic feel”, perhaps informed by her own personal history of war in her Sarajevo home.

Some of the works will be permanent, some will move. For instance, mobile works include Mark Dion’s, the giant seagull, which will be towed, or Helen and Ivan Morrison’s work, a science fiction library, which will visit the estates in Folkestone’s less affluent areas. The Public Works piece is a sort of moving questionnaire on residents’ impression of the regeneration which, it is hoped, will continuously map responses, then to be published in the local press.

Permanent works will include pieces by Tracey Emin, sculptures in bronze, which will remain as part of the seaside town’s heritage. And there will be fun pieces, like Jeppe Hein’s water sculpture, which will be placed where the children go and play. Jeremy Deller, the recent Trafalgar Square fourth plinth candidate, will be creating a performance piece which has been in preparation for several months now.

There are some ambitious sound pieces here, too, for instance Kaffe Matthews’ work, which will involve some Folkestone residents’ getting on their bikes and picking up a sound map. Susan Philipsz will be creating an exciting sound piece, consisting of her own voice singing a Tim Buckley son, installed at Baker’s Gap on the East Cliff.

An ambitious programme of cooperation with the town’s residents, including an educational programme with the underprivileged, has been underway and in particular has involved disaffected youth. The Triennial have been working with Route 25, a local youth initiative, and ARC, as well as with the local police and community organisations, such as Folkestone Migrant Support Group, and local artist groups like Club Shepway and Strange Cargo.

The Mosque is included with work by Sejla Kameric and overall it is hoped that the art will “seep into people’s lives”. In the words of Andrea “we are trying to reach out to all members of the community to show that contemporary art can matter to them and become part of their lives and it is free, it’s not frightening.” It’s a very wide-reaching project and it will reach out to the widest possible audience.

More information

Tales of Time and Space

14 Jun to 14 Sep

To speak to one of the Folkestone Triennial team or find out more about the event,

please call 0 1303 245799 or visit Folkestone Triennial

Getting there

By train

Services from Charing Cross/London Bridge/Waterloo East/Cannon St to Ramsgate calling at Folkestone Central and/or Folkestone West Station run regularly and take between one hour 20 and one hour 40 minutes. Folkestone Central Station is a short walk from the centre of town.

Top Tip: the quickest way of getting to Folkestone from London Bridge (one hour 19 minutes) is to change at Tonbridge - there is no need to change platforms in between trains

By car

Head for the M20, turn off at any junction from 10 to 13 and follow the signs to Folkestone. Or take the M2 to Canterbury for a choice of pretty routes into town.