From end of April:
As April set in, Folkestone Fringe welcomes Ana Dana Beroš (HR), put forward by LAB 852, and Patrick Hubmann (A), put forward by Ideias Emergentes, for a 10 day research period. Kicking off with a welcome dinner, tea stops, cinema screenings, discussions of practice with local artists, library sessions, birds’ eye views of the town and many strolls… both are settling in and developing their project proposals whilst using Urban Room Folkestone as their base.
In times of political unrest, it’s exhilarating to witness a group of individuals combine practices, associations, interests, and locations, all of which are being woven together in this particular situation. Our local emerging artists working alongside both Ana and Patrick are:
- Mitchell Bloomfield << Find out more
Born in Folkestone and graduated from the Anglia Ruskin University in 2015 with a degree in Illustration, Mitch is now a key team member for Fringe's production work across artists projects and Festivals. Bloomfield’s ideas for Magic Carpets are still developing. For now, he has been predominantly interested in the construction process that works in line with building organically. This could mean, for example, building for purpose/building for and with the people, or a type of build that could be re-invented each day for differing purposes through its creation and use...just like Folkestone’s very own toolbox.
-Cherry Truluck << Find out more
Truluck’s practice has moved through architecture, cyberformance, theatre design, art directing, live art and professional cheffing – still holding onto to something from all of these. Truluck’s recent work is cross-disciplinary and examines the juncture of domestic space and performance through the lens of feminism and food. She created and runs Custom Folkestone on Folkestone Harbour Arm. Through her research, Truluck has interpreted the branch line as a connection between the sea, the countryside, and the rest of the world. Working within this spatial potential, she aims to combine her expertise- architecture and edibles (parasitic in this case) - to depict fleeting moments of communication…moments between people meeting from each side. In echoing the parasitic growth that happens to be there by chance, and therefore ceases to permanently exist, a constellation between food and people will eventually form along the line.
- Daniel Tollady << Find out more
Interested in notions of becoming and spatiality, Daniel’s practice is a hybridisation of spatial design and fine art, using structural objects and intuitive drawing processes to explore and model new spatial possibilities. Tollady aims to create Folkestone’s very own ‘urban archive’ that combines person and object. As an action that can boost the sense of belonging, he plans to initiate events that will create a skill, object, and knowledge exchange with randomised locals from the area which will then be displayed to the public. Through this, Tollady hopes to manufacture an alternative directory and thus within this process, an alternative community that will, in turn, represent a narrative of Folkestone.
Ana, as an architect and curator, practices through the mediums of education & curation; working on the fringes of communities, she explores notions of territories, waste & heritage.In asking questions around Folkestone’s post-industrial memories of railway workers and fishing communities, she is interested in interpreting it as a ‘border-town’. Throughout April, she has based her research around Folkestone's position to the English Channel, and aims to interpret its social choreography, its history, its migration thresholds, into a single conceptual territory that will unite us with France across the sea.
Website >>
Patrick, a carpenter, and designer, activates public space by demonstrating building and construction processes, situating his work in places perhaps without certain facilities. In playing on the potential of possibilities within places, Patrick is inspired by the ideas and expectations of Folkestone as a holiday destination in the past, present, and future. Hubmann proposes to play on this trajectory of happiness in June, by commenting on the long-standing association of Folkestone as a holiday destination. He plans to create our very own communal and multi-functional "Grand Plaza Express".
Website >>
The fact that MagiC Carpets allows emerging creatives to travel and meet local artists truly highlights the ‘Beauty of collaboration,’ (Patrick) and the inspiration that comes from exploring a place with fresh eyes, whether as an ‘outsider’ or a ‘local’. Both practitioners have funneled a historical perspective towards the current regeneration. Interpreting both physically and symbolically Folkestone as a place of transition, a site of arrival and departure… an edge to mainland Europe that is inevitably shaped by its own infrastructure.
We now await their return in June, when the thoughts of our Magic Carpets practitioners will come into shape across the whole month. Using the ideas of others, sharing stories, hosting workshops, and meeting the people who live either side of the derelict Harbour Branch Train Line- this area and beyond will transform into their summer playground. Each practitioner will produce their individual projects, as well as collaborate and aid one another on their physical or conceptual creations as a group process.
