Every three years Folkestone delivers one of the most ambitious public art projects presented in the UK.
Located in the seaside town of Folkestone on the south-east coast of England, artists are invited to use the town as their ‘canvas’, utilising public spaces to create striking new pieces that reflect issues affecting both the town and the wider world. Artists commissioned to take part in previous years include Cornelia Parker, Tracey Emin, Jeremy Deller, Martin Creed and Richard Wilson.
The event is one of the five key projects dedicated to enabling the regeneration of Folkestone through creative activity. Working with the people of Folkestone, partners and other stakeholders, these projects are transforming the town, making it a better place to live, work, visit and study.
There has been a remarkable record of success, having already transformed the old town of Folkestone, around the scenic harbour, into a Creative Quarter populated by artists and home to creative industries and education providers. Three hundred jobs have been created and ninety buildings have been restored in the Creative Quarter, and the Quarterhouse, a performance venue for music, theatre, dance and comedy, has been built. The area has been animated by two internationally acclaimed visual art events; Folkestone Artworks is a significant and permanent contemporary art collection, and an annual Book Festival.
In September 2014 a new piece was stealthily added to that year’s exhibition by street artist Banksy. Painted overnight and titled “Art Buff”, this brand new stencil piece by the elusive British street artist featured an elderly lady, listening to audio museum guide, looking at a plinth, over a buffed area. Buff a new form of art ? This piece appears to be Banksy's take on the Folkestone event.
Within two weeks the piece had been vandalised, with a large phallus being spray painted on top of the plinth.
Sadly, the work can no longer be seen. The owners of the building on which the work was created removed the chunk of wall on which the painting was made and shipped it to America in an effort to sell it. To date the work has not sold.
This is my first cache hide. It is a quick cache-and-dash or can be combined with several other caches around Folkestone town centre and The Leas.
You will need to be very stealthy here as it’s a busy area and car park.
Please replace the cache exactly as you found it.
*** Congratulations FTF ***
*** little.pickle ***
*** 06:20 17th June 2015 ***