double edge
September 2–November 5, 2017
Creative Foundation has announced details of the artists taking part in the fourth edition of Folkestone Triennial (September 2–November 5, 2017), one of the UK’s most ambitious art exhibitions. Internationally-recognised artists have been commissioned to create a collection of new artworks to be exhibited in Folkestone’s public spaces under the title double edge with some of the works due to remain in the town to add to its expanding art collection, Folkestone Artworks.
The 2017 artists are Rigo 23, Sol Calero, Michael Craig-Martin, Antony Gormley, Carmody Groarke, Alex Hartley, Lubaina Himid, Ann Veronica Janssens, Emily Peasgood, Amalia Pica, Marc Schmitz and Dolgor Ser-Od, David Shrigley, Bob and Roberta Smith, Sinta Tantra, Nomeda and Gediminas Urbonas, HoyCheong Wong, Gary Woodley, Bill Woodrow, Richard Woods, and Jonathan Wright.
The artists will each work on new site-specific commissions that respond to the physical and conceptual context of Folkestone and so will further develop the inquiry into "sense of place" that guided the Folkestone Triennial exhibition, Lookout, in 2014. The exhibition’s title double edge refers to the two main axes around which Folkestone’s development as a town has taken place historically and geographically: the seashore and the Pent Stream, an ancient watercourse flowing from the Northern Downs into the sea, the present edge between East and West Folkestone. The title draws on the extensive academic study of "edge" concepts in recent years: borders; thresholds; margins; the periphery; the liminal. double edge resonates with major contemporary cultural, economic and political realities experienced as part of everyday lives in Folkestone and across the globe: migration; border control; wealth inequality; sustainability; a challenging urban environment; and climate change, to name just a few.
Lewis Biggs, Curator of Folkestone Triennial, said: “The title double edge keys ambiguity first of all, and has two principal meanings following from that—the first is anxiety: the edge of the world, the edge of the future and the unknown. The second is the notion of balance, released through the artist’s imagination when one tips over the edge and looks back on the known with a renewed perspective. Great art is a mirror to the world, and this exhibition gives artists the opportunity to make new work that plays with ambiguity and stimulates audiences to consider broader issues such as why the world is the way it is, how it might be, and how change is always possible.”
For the full programme please visit our website.
Crowdfunding campaign
Creative Foundation also announced the launch of its crowdfunding campaign for the 2017 edition of the Folkestone Triennial which aims to raise 15,000 GBP by mid-April 2017. The campaign is hosted by the Art Fund’s crowdfunding platform Art Happens, the only crowdfunding platform dedicated to the museum and gallery sector.
The money raised will help Bob and Roberta Smith cover the town’s streets and landmarks with signs and banners declaring that FOLKESTONE IS AN ART SCHOOL. There is a host of exclusive rewards for anyone who donates to the project, including signed limited edition prints by Bob & Roberta Smith.
The project can be supported here.
A trio of events
edge: situated practice in art, architecture and urbanism: organised by University College London’s (UCL) Urban Laboratory in partnership with the Creative Foundation, will follow the High Speed 1 rail line from central London to Folkestone via Stratford’s Olympic Park over the course of the Triennial. Each day will bring together prominent practitioners and thinkers who will be invited to respond to the transformation of these current or former "edge" locations, as they investigate the sensory, social and environmental impact of their practices.
Folkestone Triennial 2017 is supported by:
The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust, Arts Council England, Saga, Kent County Council and the Shepway District Council
