View of Margate with England's Creative Coast logo

England’s Creative Coast

Role: Project Director
More info: www.englandscreativecoast.com

Sarah Dance Associates has been at the centre of the England’s Creative Coast initiative from the outset – developing the whole project concept, driving the strategic direction and setting the overall creative vision.

Following comprehensive and extensive pathfinding research, the project implementation started in 2018 with an initial launch date set for 2020. Covid and the associated lockdowns could had derailed the project, but careful and sensitive project direction, delivered by Sarah Dance Associates, delivered a unique and safe experience for people just as the economy began to re-open in 2021.

Conceived as a project outside of gallery walls, England’s Creative Coast offers a naturally socially-distanced experience that connects people and places across the extraordinary network of arts organisations along the South East coast. We hope that in these troubled times these site-specific art commissions and geocache trail brimming with seaside tales inspire creativity through adventure.

Sarah Dance

About the project

New outdoor artworks and cultural adventures connect the outstanding galleries across the South East’s stunning coastline of Kent, Essex and Sussex, taking in everything from attractions, events and festivals to accommodation, food and drink, to create an innovative new visitor experience.

Seven new site-specific artworks by seven international contemporary artists – Andreas Angelidakis, Mariana Castillo Deball, Holly Hendry, Jasleen Kaur, Katrina Palmer, Pilar Quinteros and Michael Rakowitz – connect the coastline of Essex, Kent and East Sussex and the world-class arts organisations in these places.

The Waterfronts series of artworks, curated by Tamsin Dillon, is set in the landscape of Margate, Folkestone, Hastings, Bexhill-on-Sea, Eastbourne, Gravesend and Southend-on-Sea.

  • A giant composite worm of different materials including wobbly metal ducting
    Holly Hendry – ‘Invertebrate’ – for Bexhill
  • A sculpture of a young soldier from the Iraq war pointing out to sea
    Michael Rakowitz – ‘April is the cruellest month’ – for Margate
  • A large-scale semi-abstract sculpture that features several components and includes a structure that resembles the top of a Sikh head including a top-knot.
    Jasleen Kaur – ‘The first thing I did was to kiss the ground’ – for Gravesend
  • A large emphatic concrete form based on a sound mirror (also known as an acoustic mirror)
    Katrina Palmer – ‘Hello’ – for Southend-on-Sea
  • A collection of eight identical structures located in a small public square just outside Hastings Contemporary
    Andreas Angelidakis – ‘Seawall’ – for Hastings
  • A sculpture, which presents two faces — one faced inland and the other gazing at the sea
    Pilar Quinteros – ‘Janus Fortress Folkestone’ – for Folkestone
  • A chalk stencilled rope demarcating a jagged, unexpected route through the town
    Mariana Castillo Deball – ‘Walking through the town’ – for Eastbourne

Taking the border between land and water as their inspiration, each artist responded to these unique coastal locations, focusing on issues, stories and questions related to the area to offer fresh perspectives on each place.

  • Turner Contemporary in Margate presents Michael Rakowitz: ‘April is the cruellest month’
  • Cement Fields in Gravesend presents Jasleen Kaur: ‘The first thing I did was to kiss the ground’ 
  • Metal in Southend-on-Sea presents Katrina Palmer: ‘Hello’ and ‘Retreat’ 
  • The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea presents Holly Hendry: ‘Invertebrate’ 
  • Hastings Contemporary presents Andreas Angelidakis: ‘Seawall’ 
  • Creative Folkestone presents Pilar Quinteros: ‘Janus’ Fortress Folkestone’ 
  • Towner Eastbourne presents Mariana Castillo Deball: ‘Walking through the town I followed a pattern on the pavement that became the magnified silhouette of a woman’s profile’