Public Art In Folkestone – Whats The Point?

A new 3 part series of conversations exploring the role & value of public art in Folkestone, hosted by local resident, Sarah Hagues.

Presenting questions raised by the public about the public space and the role of public art in our town to artists, curators, and a group of teenagers from Syria, Sarah draws our attention to a hugely diverse repertoire of art in public spaces beyond the Triennial artworks. The discussions delve into our relationship to art, the impact of gentrification, the future of public art, and what good it actually does for a seaside town.

In Episode One, three local artists and residents discussed community engagement with public art, funding for artists, and what impacts there are on gentrification. Multidisciplinary artist Terry Smith textile artist Di Burns, and performance artist Ernst Fischer join Sarah Hagues as she asks, ‘Public art in Folkestone, what’s the point?

In Episode Two, Hagues is joined by three curators with a relationship to the local area. Chairman of the Institute for Public Art and curator of the 2014, 2017 and 2021 Folkestone Triennials Lewis Biggs, Artistic Director and Founder of Strange Cargo Arts Brigitte Orasinski, and economist/2021 Folkestone Triennial artist Christopher Houghton-Budd discuss placemaking and the impact of public art in a seaside town.

In Episode Three ‘Art and Culture: What It Means To Me’, Hagues hosts a conversation with two people who left their home countries and now live in Folkestone. They discuss the impacts of public art in Iran and Syria, and how art and culture makes a place a home.

Gallery image credits: Tomas Poblete

Live broadcast programme on 105.9 Academy FM Radio:

Saturday 05 Feb 3pm: Episode 1 – Sarah Hagues in conversation with Terry Smith, Di Burns and Ernst Fischer

Saturday 12 Feb 3pm: Episode 2 – Sarah Hagues in conversation with Lewis Biggs, Brigitte Orasinski and Christopher Houghton-Budd

Saturday 19 Feb 3pm: Episode 3 – ‘Art and Culture: What It Means To Me’

Podcast downloadable from:

MixCloud

Spotify

Apple Podcast

Lake Lazarillo 2021 (LL21) is a radical series of live-art commissions for the public realm and public-led talks connecting ground-breaking international artists with local communities, commissioning a diverse range of works from public conversations, artistic letters, and artistic residencies. A confluence of ideas, a meeting point of opposites, LL21 is 5-part series that explores ideas surrounding proximity and distance.

The first two episodes of LL21 are public participatory forums created and led by Folkestone’s local residents, Maddy Howell & Sarah Hagues, inviting the public to enter into dialogues about the wider impact and meanings of culture, and how it shapes our sense of place and identity in times of uncertainty.⁠

The second part to LL21 uses live-art to create shared experiences that connect people, cultures and rituals from different corners of the world. Using gentle, fleeting and minimalist gestures, they aim to create memories and meanings that are both intimate and profound.⁠