2014 saw the third edition of Folkestone Triennial, one of the UK’s most ambitious public arts projects, and it could be argued that it was the biggest and best yet. The Triennial was curated for the first time by Lewis Biggs, under the title, Lookout.
The Folkestone Triennial public programme was buzzing with activity for the duration of the festival, with field trips, artist-led events, historical and community talks, guided tours, family and schools workshops on offer. Folkestone hosted two weekend conferences that were a huge success. Leading art world figures came to Folkestone to discuss and debate topics such as cultural regeneration and the role of sculpture in the public realm. We even saw satellite events take centre stage with the Folkestone Fringe earning critical acclaim. Forty projects by over eighty artists were exhibited and produced in a range of public and private spaces.
A final report for Folkestone Triennial 2014 has been issued and it gives a great overview of the event and its value in promoting arts for regeneration. While we recommend reading it, one of our researchers has summarised key points from the report for you:
- More people than ever visited Folkestone for the Triennial, cementing it as a one of the South East’s leading cultural destinations – 135,000 (compared to 103,00 in 2011 and 51,000 in 2008)
- With a focus on engagement and participation, new and younger audiences were actively encouraged to explore the world of contemporary art. A lively programme of 203 community, schools, further and higher education engagement events reached 18,402 participants through talks, tours, workshops, conferences and other activities. Audience numbers have increased with every Triennial with the latest one being rated as good or excellent overall by 93% of our visitors.
- 21 nationally and internationally recognised contemporary artists were commissioned to create new works across the town, resulting in works inhabited on 34 sites.
- The new artworks were well-received, with an independent survey showing 89.8% rating them as good or excellent (research commissioned from Realia Marketing).
- Visitor satisfaction was high, with 96.3% rating this Folkestone Triennial as good or excellent overall (research commissioned from Realia Marketing).
- Funding and support in kind represented significant inward investment to the town – £2,295,890 in total.
- Direct economic impact of funding, support and visitor investment was £4,995,890.
- Overall direct and indirect impact totalled just over £65.5 million.
- The commissioned surgery showed that 49% of visitors had not attended a previous Triennial showing that they continue to reach new audiences.
- Folkestone has been further established as a national and international home for contemporary art, receiving a fantastic level of press coverage across radio, TV and online. Total readership of the press coverage was 1,793,194,298 with PR value of £59,052,392.
Additionally the report gives a good overview of the whole Triennial, including participating artists, artwork and the events programme.
It is possible to download and read the full Report here: Folkestone Triennial Report 2014.
The images were taken during our trip to Folkestone in October 2014.
