Folkestone’s outdoor public art exhibition – Folkestone Artworks – is the UK’s largest urban outdoor contemporary art exhibition, consisting of 74 contemporary artworks by 46 artists in scenic locations around the town and its coastline. Artworks include those by Lubaina Himid, Tracey Emin, Yoko Ono and Antony Gormley. Folkestone Artworks is refreshed every three years, as permanent works commissioned for the Folkestone Triennial are incorporated. Folkestone Artworks is maintained and cared for by Creative Folkestone on behalf of the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust.
Commissioned artists and their artworks often respond directly to the town of Folkestone itself and with the specific site in mind, reflecting both the town and its community whilst also reflecting broader themes. Creative Folkestone’s CEO, Alastair Upton notes that the artists “work with the grain of the history and the grain of the land to make something and people can come and read that but of course they’re artists so there is a universality".
Notable artworks reflecting this ethos include Sol Calero’s Casa Anacaona, built by the artist working with members of the community as part of the Creative Folkestone Triennial 2017. Lubaina Himid’s Jelly Mould Pavilion, a public pavilion commissioned in 2007, reveals the town’s history with themes of universality whilst also offering shade, opportunities for conversation and invites contemplation on a sandy beach looking out to the sea. Pilar Quinteros's Janus Fortress Folkestone artwork launched in May 2021 is part of the 2021 Folkestone Triennial, 'The Plot' and England's Creative Coast.
Some of the artworks are more of a personal nature, including Tracey Emin’s Baby Things - a seven-part collection of bronze sculptures, including a teddy bear that sits on a platform at Folkestone Central railway station. Mark Wallinger’s Folk Stones reflects a more universal theme, consisting of 19,240 numbered stones, the exact number of soldiers killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
A volunteer-led project, Online Placemaking, resulted in all 72 Artworks being geo-located on Google Maps for the first time in March 2021.
Artists and Artworks +ArtistArtworkDate of Triennial/ InstallationAdam ChodzkoPyramid2008Christian BoltanskiThe Whispers2008Mark DionThe Mobile Gull Appreciation Unit2008Mark WallingerFolk Stones2008Nathan ColleyHeaven is a Place Where Nothing Ever Happens2008Pae WhiteBarking Rocks2008Patrick TuttofuocoFOLKESTONE2008Richard Wilson18 Holes2008Richard WentworthRacinated2008Tracey EminBaby Things2008A K DolvenOut of Tune2011Cornelia ParkerFolkestone Mermaid2011Cristina IglesiasTowards the Sound of Wilderness2011Hamish Fulton31 Walks from Water to Water 1971-2010 Made on Western Europe2011Paloma Varga WeiszRug People2011Ruth EwanWe Could Have Been Anything That We Wanted to Be2011Spencer FinchThe Colour of Water2011Tonico Lemos AuadCarrancas2011Diane Dever and Jonathan WrightPent Houses2014Ian Hamilton FinlayWeather is Third to Place and Time2014Jyll BradleyGreen/Light (for M.R.)2014Michael SailstorferFolkestone Digs2014Muf Architecture/ArtPayers Park2014Pablo BronsteinBeach Hut in the Style of Nicholas Hawksmoor2014rootoftwoWhithervanes: A Neurotic Early Worrying System (NEWS)2014Sarah StatonSteve2014Strange CargoThe Luckiest Place on Earth2014Tim EtchellsIs Why The Place?2014Will KwanApparatus #9 (The China Watchers Oxford University, MI6, HSBC)2014Yoko OnoSKYLADDER2014Yoko OnoEarth Peace2014Amalia PicaSouvenir2017Antony GormleyAnother Time 1999-20132017Bill WoodrowThe Ledge2017Bob and Roberta SmithFOLKESTONE IS AN ART SCHOOL2017David ShrigleyLamp Post (as remembered)2017Diane Dever and The DecoratorsCustoms House, Urban Room Folkestone2017Gary WoodleyImpingement No. 66 ‘Cube Circumscribed by Tetrahedron - Tetrahedron Circumscribed by Cube’2017Jonathan WrightFleet on Foot2017Marc Schmitz + Dolger Ser-OdSire2017Michael Craig-MartinFolkestone Lightbulb2017Richard WoodsHoliday Home2017Rigo 23Through the Glassworks, Earth’s Oldest Satellite, Me and You, Some in Fewture 1990-20172017Sinta Tantra19472017Sol CaleroCasa Anacaona2017Studio Ben AllenThe Clearing2017
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