Folkestone Triennial 2025, one of the UK’s leading contemporary art festivals has shared the full line-up of artists for its highly anticipated sixth edition. Opening on Saturday 19th July and running until Sunday 19th October 2025, this year’s Triennial will see 18 artists from 15 countries create ambitious new commissions that will transform Folkestone’s urban and coastal landscapes.
Curated for the first time by Sorcha Carey, the 2025 edition, How Lies the Land? will explore the layers of history embedded in Folkestone’s geography, its deep past, shifting borders, and evolving landscape. The exhibition invites audiences to experience the town in new ways through artworks that engage with its earth, ecosystem and geopolitics.
This year’s commissions will take over some of Folkestone’s most striking and unusual locations, including a disused railway line, a former customs house, and a lookout point across the Channel. From large-scale installations to immersive soundscapes, collaborations with local communities, and new digital worlds, artists will respond to the town’s geological, social and political history, to reflect on some of the most urgent issues of our time.
The 2025 Triennial will feature work by Celine Condorelli, Monster Chetwynd, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Cooking Sections, Dorothy Cross, John Gerrard, J Maizlish Mole, Rubiane Maia, Emeka Ogboh, Prabhakar Pachpute, Katie Paterson, Laure Prouvost, Emilija Škarnulyt?, Rae-Yen Song, Jennifer Tee, Sara Trillo, Hanna Tuulikki and Sarah Wood.
Sorcha Carey, previously Director of Edinburgh Art Festival and now Director of Collective, Edinburgh, said:
“Folkestone Triennial has long been a pioneering force in commissioning public art that responds to place. This year, artists will engage with extraordinary and unexpected sites, creating works that spark new ways of seeing the landscape and our relationship with it. From abandoned military structures to industrial ruins, these locations hold stories of migration, environmental change, human and more-than-human resilience—narratives that resonate far beyond Folkestone.”
Alastair Upton, Chief Executive of Creative Folkestone, added:
“Over the last two decades, the Folkestone Triennial has been instrumental in reimagining the town as a hub for artistic innovation. This year’s edition continues that tradition, welcoming world-class artists to create works that will leave a lasting mark on Folkestone’s public spaces and cultural life. As well as drawing visitors to the town, the Triennial plays a vital role in supporting the local economy and inspiring new generations of creatives.”
For three months, the focus will be on Folkestone as an open-air gallery, inviting visitors to experience thought-provoking contemporary art in one of the UK’s most exciting coastal destinations. From the harbour to the cliffs, How Lies the Land? promises to reframe Folkestone’s landscape through ambitious, site-specific commissions that engage with history, ecology and human movement.
With previous editions establishing Folkestone as a major centre for public art, the 2025 Triennial continues its legacy of bringing world-class contemporary artists to this historic seaside town. Whether discovering artworks hidden in unexpected places or exploring the town’s thriving independent cultural scene, visitors are invited to experience Folkestone in a new light.
A spokesperson from Folkestone & Hythe District Council, said:
“Creativity has become part of the fabric of Folkestone in part thanks to the legacy of pieces retained from former Triennials. We are delighted that this interweaving of creativity and place will be further strengthened by pieces from Celia Condorelli and Monster Chetwynd contributing to the Folkestone – A Brighter Future project.
“This project will regenerate Folkestone and transform the town centre. We’re thrilled to have the input of these highly respected artists and our partners Creative Folkestone ensuring art and the sense of playfulness that embodies Folkestone will be part of the redevelopment of such an important space, central to the lives of many.”
The hugely popular art event is a chance to enjoy a culturally minded summer weekend in the seaside town. Visitors to Folkestone Triennial are invited to experience a range of contemporary art works that offer new perspectives on a town recently voted the Best Place to Live in the Southeast and Time Out’s Best Place to Visit 2025.
Folkestone Triennial 2025 runs from 19th July – 19th October 2025. More details, including artist projects and locations, will be announced later in Spring.
The Folkestone – A Brighter Future project is a transformational project set to regenerate Folkestone town centre. The programme has been made possible by £19.8 million of government funding secured by Folkestone & Hythe District Council. Construction on phase one will begin in April 2025 and with all work due to be completed in Summer 2026.
About
Folkestone Triennial is one of Creative Folkestone’s core projects and one of the largest exhibitions of newly commissioned work, presented in the UK every three years. Since 2008, Folkestone Triennial has invited world-class and critically acclaimed artists to create new work inspired by the town, landscape, and history. Previous editions of the festival have included artists such as Antony Gormley, Cornelia Parker, Lubaina Himid, Michael Sailstorfer, Rana Begum, Tracey Emin, and many more. The fifth Folkestone Triennial took place in 2021. Following a delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Triennial welcomed over 220,000 visitors to the town. One of the cornerstones of the town’s recent regeneration, Folkestone Triennial has grown in popularity locally, nationally and internationally. Carey follows curators Lewis Biggs (2014, 2017 & 2021) and Andrea Schlieker (2008 & 2011) in presenting her vision for the festival.
Creative Folkestone is a visionary arts charity and placemaking organisation dedicated to making Folkestone a great place to live, work, play, study and visit. Creative Folkestone believes in the power of art and creativity to encourage positive social change and should be open and accessible to all. Since 2002, Creative Folkestone have been transforming Folkestone through several key projects including Folkestone Artworks, Folkestone Book Festival, Creative Quarter, Folkestone Triennial and Quarterhouse. Through all these projects we enable people to get creative. In 2021, Creative Folkestone also became custodians of Prospect Cottage, the former home of Derek Jarman, following a successful campaign to save the property for the nation in partnership with Art Fund and Tate.
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