English Seaside Town Debuts Triennial

FOLKESTONE, England—Once a Victorian resort and thriving fishing center, this small seaside town’s only claim to fame in recent years has been as one of the main ports to cross the English Channel to northern France. On June 14, however, Folkestone debuts its very first Triennial, featuring works by Tracey Emin, David Batchelor, Langlands & Bell, Tacita Dean, Christian Boltanski, Richard Wilson, and Jeremy Deller.

The Triennial is the brainchild of Roger De Haan, a former chairman of the Saga Insurance Company, the headquarters of which are located in Folkestone. De Haan now heads the board of The Creative Foundation, an organization that seeks to lift Folkestone from the slump it experienced in the latter half of the 20th century, as tourism to the area dropped and fish stocks dwindled. This transformation has also included major landscaping of the beachside and a proposed regeneration of the port area by architect Norman Foster. 

Many of the artists took direct inspiration from the town's setting. Dean presents her 33mm, 50-minute film Amadeus (2008), which depicts a nighttime crossing of the Channel from France to Folkestone. Langlands & Bell’s film Folkestone Coast Watch compares the town with its French counterpart, Boulogne. Emin questions the socio-economic problems of provincial Britain with Baby Things, bronze casts of baby clothes exhibited as if discarded under benches or on low-level walls. American Mark Dion’s piece, Mobile Gull Appreciation Unit, is a kiosk in the shape of a seagull that dispenses field guides on the omnipresent bird.