Folkestone Triennial 2014
30 August–2 November 2014
www.folkestonetriennial.org.uk
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / #Lookout
The third edition of Folkestone Triennial, one of the UK’s most ambitious public art exhibitions, opens today, Saturday 30 August. Internationally recognised artists, including Yoko Ono, Andy Goldsworthy and Pablo Bronstein, have created new artworks that are being exhibited throughout Folkestone’s public spaces under the title Lookout. A number of these works will become permanent additions to the landscape of the town, adding to Folkestone Artworks, the existing collection of permanent works from the previous two Triennials. Folkestone Triennial runs from 30 August to 2 November and will be open daily from 10am to 5pm.
The artists are Jyll Bradley, Pablo Bronstein, Strange Cargo, Diane Dever and Jonathan Wright, Tim Etchells, Andy Goldsworthy, Ian Hamilton Finlay, John Harle and Tom Pickard, Emma Hart, Alex Hartley, Krijn de Koning, Will Kwan, Gabriel Lester, Amina Menia, muf architecture/art, Yoko Ono, Marjetica Potrč and Ooze Architects, rootoftwo, Sarah Staton, and Something & Son.
These artists have been invited to make new work in relation to specific sites in Folkestone. The result is artworks that relate directly to the town and its socio-economic and cultural history, as well as exploring universal issues. Some commissions have rejuvenated existing sites, others have created new environments in the town. Numerous works involve and collaborate with local communities, and address aspects of our daily lives that affect people on a global scale, such as climate change, the environment, sustainability, technology and communication.
Lewis Biggs, Curator of Folkestone Triennial, said: “I’m very proud to be curator for an exhibition that is fast becoming a focus of interest around the world. Folkestone Triennial presents a very special opportunity for artists who are talented enough for the challenge of showing outside the gallery, museum or sale room. I have been careful to invite only artists whose works fits the opportunity; who want to be in dialogue with the urban context, who have something to say about contemporary life in a wider world and who want to engage with a broad audience.”
Public programme
Throughout the duration of Folkestone Triennial local residents and visitors are invited to participate in the public programme, comprising talks, tours, conferences, field trips, artists’ events, family and school workshops. The programme is centred around two weekend-long conferences, which will be held at Folkestone’s Quarterhouse. “Imagined Cities” will take place on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 October, and “The Sculpture Question” will take place on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 November.
Many of the artists participating in Folkestone Triennial work at the intersection between art, architecture and urbanism. “Imagined Cities” will explore how we might abandon preconceived ideas around architecture and urbanism to re-imagine the notion of the city. Keynote speakers are Sir Terry Farrell, architect and master planner for Folkestone Harbour, and Jude Kelly, artistic director, Southbank Centre.
“The Sculpture Question” will investigate the medium of sculpture and how in today’s trans-disciplinary contexts sculpture might, as a discipline of fine art, continue to be taught and defined in the present. This conference will take Folkestone Triennial as its case study, while looking back at significant historical precedents, and will argue that sculpture is always political and space is never neutral. Keynote speakers include Nicolas Bourriaud, Director of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and curator of Taipei Biennial 2014; Penelope Curtis, Director, Tate Britain; and American curator, writer and educator Mary Jane Jacob.
Tickets for conferences can be bought from the Folkestone Triennial website. All other events are free of charge but booking is highly recommended. For the full Folkestone Triennial public programme and listings, please visit www.folkestonetriennial.org.uk/events.
Folkestone Triennial 2014 is supported by The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust, Arts Council England, the Folkestone Estate, Kent County Council and Shepway District Council.
Press contact:
Olivia Cerio, Sutton PR
olivia [at] suttonpr.com / T +44 (0) 20 7183 3577
