The Exhibition
Our 4th and final year of the Creative Europe platform MagiC Carpets is coming to a close, and we invite you to remember, reflect, and feel inspired for the future during our closing event.
Hosted by Urban Room Folkestone, this exhibition is a retrospective of each of the residencies that Folkestone Fringe has either hosted a visiting artist or nominated a local artist to be part of the MagiC Carpets Platform.
Throughout all of the residencies presented in Folkestone, our aim has been to create projects that connect people to each other and the place that they live. We believe that this connection can create an impact on people's well-being and help create a sense of belonging.
The biggest challenge has been to be in a situation in which everything is new and fairly unknown – a ‘new’ curator, ‘new’ artists, ‘new’ communities – all in the ever-shifting context of a seaside town undergoing cultural-led regeneration. It has been a big learning curve and it has helped shape and develop us – to get to know the people and place of Folkestone much more. It has also made us more experienced in developing and supporting good, socially-led, art practices. We have been able to be more ambitious with the work we produce and it has been wonderful to create lasting relationships and cross-cultural collaborations with partner organisations and artists working across Europe, in a time when this is needed.
For most of our residencies we have used the Urban Room Folkestone as our base. This is partly because it is a space which encourages dialogue, interaction, and knowledge exchange, which are integral elements to the artists’ practices that we have worked with, and to the ethos of the MagiC Carpets Platform and Folkestone Fringe. It has also provided the artists and the public with rich resources about the town; from its first inhabitants in pre-Roman times, to the present day and all of the intricacies that lie in-between. It has been invaluable to have a neutral, non-art space for us to hold open, inclusive and meaningful workshops, conversations, and exhibitions.
This exhibition draws connections between the artists’ research which have been driven by local specificities. There have been two key themes which have been explored in various ways throughout the four years which are: People’s relationship with the land and bridging micro and macro borders.
Get Involved:
"In 2019, during a MagiC Carpets residency with Urban Room Folkestone and Folkestone Fringe, I devised "Urban Archive: Folkestone", an ongoing project that invites the public to participate in a moment of exchange: a site-specific souvenir (track ballast from the disused Harbour Branch Railway Line) in exchange for a memory and object from their pocket. Folkestone is a coastal town undergoing much development, but the disused railway line remains a physical divide within the built environment. Community groups from either side of the track are continually adapting and changing in response to their fluctuating environment, so the intention of the archive is to present a cross-section of narratives and communal familiarity that represents and unites the town and its people. This project continues to grow and was recently exhibited in Folkestone's Customs House."
You can be part of Urban Archive: Folkestone, by visiting Urban Room Folkestone, & exchanging a souvenir (something in your pocket, or something brought along especially), for your very own unique piece of ballast.
