This Art 2 Tone Exhibition - part of the Skabour Festival Fringe
The Art of Ska is coming to Folkestone Museum!
Every year Folkestone host the Skabour Festival, a celebration of 2 Tone music, a genre which developed during the 1970s. Folkestone is also lucky to be the home of one of the creators of the the two-tone graphics which visually mark out genre.
Curated by John 'Teflon' Sims, one time Art Director of Chrysalis Records, where he worked with colleague David Storey on the 2 Tone aesthetic under the guiding hand of Specials keyboardist Jerry Dammers, the exhibition explores the art and fashion of a genre that sought to defuse the racial tensions of the late 70s and early 80s through music. The exhibition also features the work of The Elms School in Dover, their pupils having created the giant rat featured in the exhibition.
For more details about the Skabour Festival, which runs 15th-17th September 2023, CLICK HERE. To learn more about The Elms School and the the wonderful work they do with unique & talented children CLICK HERE.
The exhibition is situated in the Museum's special exhibition gallery on the lower ground floor and is open during our normal open hours of 10.00-16.00 (last entry 15.30). For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.
Seaside Memories - African and Caribbean people at the seaside
Inspired by the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush
The HMT Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Dock on 22nd June 1948, bringing one of the first large groups of West Indian citizens to the United Kingdom. The Windrush became the emblem of a generation of Commonwealth peoples making their home here from the 1940s to the 1970s.
The photographs & memories in this new exhibit by Healing Image Projects explores a widely un-acknowledged experience of African and Caribbean people enjoying the seaside in mid-twentieth-century UK.
At times, it may have been assumed that day trippers to the coast enjoy a more transient and leisurely experience, without missing familiar cultural comforts for too long. However historically, many African and Caribbean excursions included the joys of food and music, while sampling what the local seaside had to offer.
The exhibition is situated in the Town Hall Foyer on the ground floor and is open during normal open hours (10.00-16.00).
'A life in Art' - Mike Perry, The Folkestone Miniaturist
Meet the Man behind the Miniaturist!
Last chance to see the exhibition - must end 30th August!
Mike Perry moved to Folkestone in 2017 and has become known as ‘The Folkestone Miniaturist’. But his association with Kent stretches much further back and out of the realms of modelmaking and into film, television, and theatre. Folkestone Museum is pleased to host Mike’s lifetime work as our summer exhibition – his ‘life in art’…
In Mike’s own words:
“I have chosen to show my life in art, concentrating on the 3D aspects of my work, with supporting photos, plans and sketches. I have begun with my earliest models and designs, which although accurate and practical, were not sufficiently creative or fulfilling for me.
I then studied theatre design at Birmingham College of Art and worked at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre producing costume and set designs. My decision to go to college was formed by my very first design in the Sixth Form at school where my concept was chosen for the school production of HMS Pinafore – and where I learnt to paint trompe l’oeil scenery!
After Birmingham I became a television and film designer, creating full size visual fantasies. My favourite work was the BAFTA nominated ‘Auf Wiedersehen Pet.’ I was also fortunate to be an assistant art director on several films including Peter Collinson’s ‘The Italian Job’ and Lindsay Anderson’s ‘If.’ I have also made many props, drawn posters, illustrated books and designed areas for several theme parks.
My television career led to me becoming Head of Design at TVS Television and thus began my life in Kent. I also taught art at Nottingham Trent University, Suffolk College of Art, and Mid Kent College before moving to Folkestone and exploring new creative methods.”
The exhibition opens on Tuesday 18th July and closes on Saturday 26th August, open hours are 10.00am to 4.00pm; last entry to the exhibition at 3.30pm.
For further details email enquiries@folkestone-tc.gov.uk, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.
Seaside Memories - African and Caribbean people at the seaside
Inspired by the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush
The HMT Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Dock on 22nd June 1948, bringing one of the first large groups of West Indian citizens to the United Kingdom. The Windrush became the emblem of a generation of Commonwealth peoples making their home here from the 1940s to the 1970s.
The photographs & memories in this new exhibit by Healing Image Projects explores a widely un-acknowledged experience of African and Caribbean people enjoying the seaside in mid-twentieth-century UK.
At times, it may have been assumed that day trippers to the coast enjoy a more transient and leisurely experience, without missing familiar cultural comforts for too long. However historically, many African and Caribbean excursions included the joys of food and music, while sampling what the local seaside had to offer.
The exhibition is situated in the Town Hall Foyer on the ground floor and is open during normal open hours (10am-4pm).
Rotary Club of Folkestone Centenary Exhibition
The Rotary Club of Folkestone Celebrates its centenary during 2023. If you've ever wondered what Folkestone's club, and indeed the Rotary International organisation's reason for being and the work they do, this exhibition will answer those questions...
The exhibition tells the story of the Club from its beginnings in 1923, when it supported apprenticeships in the Great Depression, through to more recently with practical help with school uniforms, help for those affected in the Folkestone flood, debt relief advice, and with helping to organise the volunteers at 'Folca' - the former Debenhams store COVID Vaccination Centre. The exhibition also touches on the Club's support for Rotary International's work internationally in countries such as Nepal and India, and in supporting it's efforts to end Polio worldwide.
The exhibition is situated in the Temporary Exhibition Gallery on the lower ground floor and is open during normal Museum open hours (last entry 3.30pm).
of Rotary’s Polio Plus effort in Agra, India
Writing on the Edge of the Land and Sea
FREE Creative Writing Workshop as part of the Being Human Festival
Coastal landscapes are sites of arrival and departure, innovation, invasion and reinvention, where new thinking is possible and strange forms are washed up by the tide…
Join tutors from Canterbury Christ Church University’s Creative Writing team for an interactive workshop in Folkestone Museum, where we will draw on traditions and innovations in seaside literature to create new writing. Try your hand at cut-up and collage forms; experiment with writing the uncanny; look again at Folkestone’s fascinating past; and be inspired by items in the museum collection.
Workshop materials will be provided. Participants will be given a copy of our Writing on the Edge project pamphlet, with further writing prompts, samples and exercises, to take home.
Spaces are free but limited: advance booking essential and must be booked via Event Bright, click here to go to the booking page
Canterbury Christ Church University are also running a morning walkshop along Folkestone's coast linked to the afternoon workshop, more details click here to go to the walkshop event page
This event is part of the Being Human festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 10–19 November 2022. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org.
Our Screen Heritage
Celebrating, preserving and sharing the LGBTQIA+ film heritage of Kent and the South East
Screen Archive South East (SASE), in partnership with Queer Heritage South, devised this project for the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is dedicated to working with two LGBTQIA+ organisations in the South East – Folkestone Pride and Margate Pride – so that together they can collect, curate and exhibit films/moving images related to the life of our LGBTQIA+ communities. This new collection will be preserved, digitised and catalogued and be made freely available to us all to see.
The project runs from December 2021 to March 2023 and volunteers are at the heart of their work. As Community Curators, they’ve been introduced to heritage issues & practices, the development of LGBTQIA+ heritage and are involved in the curation of films for preservation and exhibition.
This exhibition celebrates the work of the project and runs through October 2020 in the Museum's temporary exhibition space. It forms part of a wider programme of events curated by the project, which can be found by CLICKING THIS LINK
Exhibition - Reverend David Railton M.C.
The Friends of St Mary’s and St Eanswythe’s and Folkestone Museum are proud to present ‘Reverend David Railton M.C.’ This moving exhibition is available to visit at Folkestone Museum from the 17th October 2020 and reflects on Railton's experiences of the First World War which lead to his idea for the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.
The iconic image of the Tomb has been recreated, with the permission of Westminster Abbey and will be on display at Folkestone Museum, along with a recording of some of his private letters, courtesy of his family and a film on loan from the Imperial War Museum.
Please note:
The Museum is running reduced opening hours, the current opening hours are:
Thursday - Saturday
10.00 - 16.00 (last entry 15.00)
In busy periods we may ask you to book a time slot to ensure we can maintain social
distancing throughout the museum.
Please wear a face mask or face covering, there will be hand sanitisers for the maintenance of hygiene. To aid social distancing and to ensure people will feel safe visiting us, we have implemented a one-way system around the museum.
FotoFolkes
FotoFolkes is a community project aimed at celebrating local diversity and raising awareness of South Kent Mind’s presence in the area. The local community has been invited to send in their photos, which have been published on Instagram and now are proudly on display at Folkestone Museum. The project, funded by Live Well Kent, began before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown but has since become more significant, giving an insight into people’s experiences of social isolation and what has since become the new ‘normal’. These images provoke a real sense of community in the current loneliness epidemic the UK is currently facing. Around 1.2 million older people are believed to be struggling with severe loneliness and chronic isolation, so it is hoped that this project can benefit individuals mental state as they are more likely to reach out and feel less alone.
Museum Closure - COVID-19
We are very sorry to say that all of our events are currently postponed until further notice. Museum staff are currently following Government advice and have decided to close Folkestone Museum while the COVID-19 Virus is active. We will continually review the situation and hope to reopen in the not too distant future.