Folkestone Fringe's day to day mission is to mine for opportunities and through this mining, make space for artists to take full advantage of the opportunities made available to them. We invite them to be full-of-life and to bring people into the cultural space they create. Their enquiries bring sense to our complex world. Art is about opening oneself up to thinking and feeling – it can’t fix things, though. Artists see things differently; they are able to imagine different realities – this is how artists point towards things for us to reconsider – it is then for all of us to act on the emotion that the art evokes in us.
The Triennial takes up space – and it does so, beautifully. the new artworks invite us to move closer to the truths and fictions that are Folkestone. This illumination brings with it the chance for a deeper connection to the world and the town many of us call home. The Fringe adds a different rhythm to this exhibition, and with that rhythm, the invitation to move towards the deeper details of the everyday. Our programme, which is made by those that live here and those that come to work with us, is put together in such a way as to reveal the intricacies of this seaside town, its challenges and celebrations. It spans one-off moments, week-long exhibitions, intimate performances, open public workshops and hidden installations.
We ask you to come closer. Looking out from the top of the hills to the valley, the streets and the shoreline. Drop from this aerial view into the textures of the urban landscape. Let's dig deeper, get under the surface and see through the eyes of the artists. Their insights, their loves and their fears about ‘What’s happening, exactly?’. From the macro-level of the world stage to the micro-level of daily ritual – it is about the things we know that are in front of us – asking us to question, re-examine, re-state, re-frame and then to move on. Secure in the knowledge that we have love, we have our shared culture, a culture that crosses communities, and that we have each other.
- Diane Dever, Programme Text, July 2021 
