Good news… Margate Rocks is back! The 6th Margate Rocks Festival of Contemporary Visual Art will take place between 2-11 May 2008. Situated in and around Margate, this year’s festival explores the relationship between ‘Art & Ecology’.

Showcasing cutting edge work by emerging and established artists, the festival will highlight areas of social, environmental and cultural fact and fiction. The programme aims to create a multidisciplinary dialogue that audiences of all ages can access through a variety of exciting commissions, exhibitions, events, talks, films and workshops.

Participants include Heather & Ivan Morison, Franny Armstrong, Billy Childish, Mark McGowan, Michaela Crimmin, Andrew Kötting and Dr Mark Miodownik. Work will be sited in an assortment of exhibition spaces – from historical to disused, conventional to alternative.

The festival organisers are inviting emerging and established artists, artist groups and curators to submit proposals for exhibition during the festival. You can find out more about Margate Rocks, or join their mailing list by visiting www.margaterocks.com

In the coming months I’m sure you’ll be seeing alot more of Margate Rocks around town, and we’ll continue to post more news about this years festival as the time grows nearer.

After what seems like years of talk about bringing the Margate Harbour Arm back into use, it seems as if work has finally begun.

The harbour arm houses thirteen units, but currently only one is in use – the work now underway will convert the units for a variety of new uses, including a cafe, a resteraunt, four retail spaces, two artists studios, a gallery and two stores for commercial fishermen.

It has already been confirmed that the new gallery space will house Gallery IOTA, who left their cliff top home in Ramsgate last year. IOTA had a fantastic track record in Ramsgate, so I can only see their relocation as a boon for Margate.

The work will also introduce a new artistic lighting scheme to to illuminate the lighthouse, droit house and the upper walkway of the arm. The scheme will comprise of 40 multicolour LED lights, which visitors will be ale to control the colour, pattern and frequency of via text message.

I covered Nobert Attard’s light installation last year and suspect that the new lighting scheme could be along similar lines.

Cllr. Roger Latchford, Cabinet Member for Culture and Economy, said:

This project will provide a major boost for Margate’s regeneration and is the latest sign that the fortunes of the town are improving. The Harbour Arm is something that everyone sees as they arrive in Margate and it’s vital that we use it to its full potential. Creating units that can be used for catering, retail and arts here, while retaining space for the fishermen, will help to do just that.

You might get a better idea of the work by viewing the planning application.

Due to the huge response to last month’s story regarding Ann Carrington’s “Shell Ladies”, I am working on a post focusing on the shortlisted projects that lost out. It should arrive some time next month.

In August I mentioned Thanet Council’s competition to commission an innovative artwork to signpost the way to the Old Town area of Margate. The idea is to brand the Old Town and create a cultural trail through the town, which I suppose will work in conjunction with the work being done to widen and improve pavements leading to the area.

Well, after much consideration, the judging panel finally selected Ann Carrington’s “Victorian Shell Ladies”. She says:

Years ago I purchased a beautiful shell ornament in the shape of an Edwardian lady from a souvenir shop on the sea front. There is something about these sea side ladies that epitomise Margate – they have that ‘Kiss me Quick’ kitsch of this quintessentially English sea side resort, yet they are beautifully crafted with an air of the fine ladies and gentlemen who once inhabited the grand historical buildings that are central to the town.

Ann’s proposal includes a 10 feet tall shell lady sculpted from copper to sit in the the market place area of the old town, as well as twelve more shell ladies made from real giant scallop shells to direct people towards the old town.
To accompany the kitsch overload, she plans to use derelict window fronts to feature signs painted by local sign writers reflecting an array of historic graphics unique to Margate – from classic Amusement Arcade frontages to the signage of the Sea Bathing Hospital.

I love the hand painted signs, and totally agree that Margate should make more of it’s heritage of seaside art, but I can’t pretend I actually like her plan for the permanent shell lady in the old town.
This said, Ann Carrington is an interesting marker for where art has reached in the town. Ann is a well regarded and successful artist working from a studio just off Margate high street… and now her work is being used to help improve the town – it’s a scenario you wouldn’t have envisaged five years ago, but it illustrates the well worn history of artists working where the rents are cheap and then watching their work help improve the community as a result.

You can download Ann Carrington’s proposal for the shell ladies, alongside some of her existing portfolio, by visiting her website, and clicking on ‘Current Projects’.

Despite this week’s grusome discoveries in Margate, it would be remiss of me not to remind you that ’Exodus’, the movie filmed in Margate last year will air on Channel 4 on Monday 19th November at 10pm.

Read more on the Channel 4 Exodus website, or at the film’s official website.

Substation Gallery, just off the high street at 6 Bilton Square, is hosting a group exhibition titled ‘Hugging for the English’.

Many of the works and events have been inspired by various different influences from within the town itself. Whilst it is situated in present day Margate, the nostalgic past is not forgotten.

The exhibition is intended to transcend the boundary between the viewer and the artwork to the extent that without the viewer, much of the work would remain incomplete.

In the run up to the exhibition, artist Victoria Foster’s ‘Sovenir Swap Shop’ is open and inviting you to contribute an item. Head down to the Substation Gallery to satisfy your curiosity!

The exhibition opens on Saturday the 17th at 6pm, and is then open from the 21st November until the closing events on the 30th November.

Visit the exhibition website for more information.

Now the credits have rolled for the final time, the Thanet Extra reports that Roy Jackson, the manager of Dreamland Cinema believes the cinema would make an ideal alternative site for Turner Contemporary.

Mr Jackson is absolutely right in his view that the art deco cinema building deserves a grand future, but I’m not sure I agree that it ”fits the bill as a high profile centre for the Turner Contemporary”.

The Dreamland ‘fin’ is an utterly iconic fixture of Margate seafront, but totally unsuitable as a gallery. In terms of modern gallery aesthetics and vision, the cinema building falls short of what is required - if Margate is to house a successful gallery it should be in a building fit for purpose. It must encourage contemporary art (both internationally and locally) and act as a catalyst for the further regeneration of Margate.

What is certain is that considerable thought must now be directed towards this fantastic old building and it’s future.

The newly renovated Theatre Royal played host to a packed presentation of the finished Turner Contemporary design yesterday evening. In the helm was David Chipperfield, the project architect and recent recipient of the Stirling Prize for Architecture.

We had an exclusive few minutes to speak to David before his presentation, and asked him to explain the progress he and his team made since the last presentation.

I think we’ve developed the project in a very positive way – the figure of the building now has much more character, its got an identity now, which I think was slightly lacking in the preliminary scheme.
To be fair, I think in early schemes we were consumed with the site issue, whereas in the last month we’ve been much more concerned with the working of the building and how we can give it character, and I think that’s gone very well and I think it will be a much more acceptable solution – I think its actually quite a friendly building.

Copyright David Chipperfield Architects Ltd

So what to make of the design? Throughout the entire process Chipperfield has rallied hard against a blind focus towards ‘iconic buildings’ – he is much more concerned with producing beautiful buildings that first of all suit their purpose and surroundings.

What is fundamental to this project is that the gallery must become an important public building – it must be a building that serves the community. So we are looking at what it will do for Margate and how it will regenerate the town (and I am convinced it will) – but first of all it must serve the community – and that’s not an easy thing to get right – we must confront the issues of how to make sure that this building is a popular place that people want to go to.

I could go on and on about the technical specs of the design, but really I should cut to the chase and get to the core of my post – Turner Contemporary is beautiful.

The six interlocking blocks that form the building will be clad in a remarkable opaque milky glass that will give the building an ‘almost magical’ appearance. The glass is totally recycled and about an inch thick, which means it will be durable enough to cope with it’s exposed position as well as giving the building the unique airy appearance.

What should we clad this building in? It was a struggle – there were a lot of considerations – the biggest was the durability of the building in such an exposed place – how does a building weather in our climate and how do we deal with it? We looked at lots of different materials, and finally we felt we should talk about light again and went full circle back to Turner’s paintings – if the building is trying to capture light inside shouldn’t it also be concerned with capturing it outside?
So we looked towards a solution which is a white recycled glass – thick glass, like slabs of marble – panels of white glass – and this starts to show the building on the one hand as real, but slightly magical – the milky whiteness will glow on the best days but also on the grey days.

Chipperfield described the design process as like making a ‘light cocktail’ – how could they make the most of the light that Margate is famous for? In the previous presentation he mentioned that they were considering giving more shape to the roofline of the building – and it is clear that they have. Each interlocking block now has a distinct silhouette:

The idea of light became more and more of our agenda – if we are to refer to Turner our responsibility is to make reference to him who more than any other artist tried to capture the qualities of light. We were interested in making the building bigger in form and stop it from being a simple box – and it is coincidence in a way if we can make the most of the views from the north and take this ‘friendly’ light (light is not friendly to museums) – this configuration allows us to bring light in but it also starts to give the building a character, a figure, a silhouette.

Copyright David Chipperfield Architects Ltd

Over the next few days I hope to give some more thought towards the design and post some of the finer details that we heard about on the evening – and as with the last presentation I will endeavour to make audio recordings of the presentation available.

I’m hugely impressed with the appearance of the building, and equally as impressed that David Chipperfield continues to take the time to take part in these consultations. Roger Gale didn’t go far wrong in describing them as a “master class in architecture”.

I could do no better than to end with Chipperfield’s closing sentences which serve as a fitting tribute to the project so far :

Building something like this is a test of the people – this isn’t something easy, otherwise the country would be full of interesting buildings – things conspire against projects like these – a building doesn’t just just land and show up one day – the delivery of the building is part of the thing itself. It needs inspiration, it needs a community that wants the building – you need to go against the grain, it needs the community to help and to want it.

The winner of the 2007 Stirling Prize for Architecture will be announced tonight, with David Chipperfield, the architect in charge of designs for Turner Contemporary, a strong favourite to win.

Indeed, Chipperfield is the only candidate with two buildings on the shortlist – the Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach am Neckar in Germany and the America’s Cup building in Valencia, Spain.

He says the English have a problem with modern buildings. “We either go for the bombastic or pastiche”.

Read more about the award on the BBC article Buildings at Risk (Of Being Different) and watch the award ceremony live on Channel 4, tonight at 8pm.

UPDATE: It’s fantastic to be able to tell you that David Chipperfield won the Stirling Prize for his Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach am Neckar in Germany.

A survey by ‘Future Laboratory’ has named Margate as one of the ‘Top 20 Creative Towns and Cities’ in the UK.

Margate is ranked at number 19 in the list and also puts Margate in the ‘Top 10 Towns to Watch’ alongside towns such as Liverpool, Glasgow and Cardiff.

It describes Margate as:

“starting to reap the benefits of its most famous local artist; the ‘Tracey Emin effect’ is causing arts funding to flood into the town.”

It highlights the development of Turner Contemporary, the filming of Exodus and Arts Solutions, which was run in collaboration with Thanet District Council and aimed to regenerate the area and develop a creative economy, as reasons why Margate made it on to the list.

Councillor Roger Latchford said:

“Margate’s positioning amongst the top 20 creative towns and cities in the UK just shows how far the town has come over the last few years. We want to see Margate becoming a creative hub for Thanet and the whole of Kent and the development of Turner Contemporary will bring a major visual arts gallery to the town, attracting a whole new audience here.

This study also highlights the economic benefits that we know culture can bring to an area and that’s why we want to establish Margate at the heart of culture in this region. It talks about signs of regeneration being seen with house prices increasing and new shops and restaurants opening and, perhaps most importantly, how the government are now looking at cultural growth areas, which could lead to funding opportunities.”

It seems not a week goes by without one of the national papers covering Margate regeneration in one way or another – it’s The Guardian’s turn this week.

Mary O’Hara raises the perceived idea of seaside decline, and suggests, with particular focus on Margate, that it’s time to dispel the myth that coastal resorts are in a state of terminal decline.

“I suppose the popular press would say [seaside towns] are under threat, but the reality is that they are changing, and they have been for 300 years,” Brodie says. “Decline assumes that it’s all negative. Some are still on the way down, but in other places you are seeing upturns.”

He says Margate is a good example of how small-scale, targeted, locally-coordinated projects can help inspire a turnaround. Standing in a once rundown Victorian electricity substation that has been gutted, whitewashed and taken over by artists, Brodie says he is convinced that taking advantage of heritage in this way can be a visible step in the right direction. “I think [the building] was derelict for many years before it came into use, and it’s interesting to see new projects like this. I think from these small-scale projects you can start to build a momentum hopefully for development – in this case, for development in the Old Town area of Margate. It is an example of what’s possible.”

I’m often skeptical when Margate appears in the media – in many cases it appears the journalists regurgitate council spiel about regeneration, rather than visiting for themselves, but in my opinion today’s article gives a fair idea of where Margate stands.
We know Margate isn’t perfect, and so does the writer, but it acknowledges how good the opportunities for Margate are. There is alot of work to do – alot of Margate suffers from seaside shabbiness, but there is a real feeling that people are keen to make changes.

In Margate, physical signs of regeneration are everywhere. On one stretch of its long sandy beach, the grand Victorian Sea Bathing hospital, which was fast becoming a neglected eyesore, has been turned into luxury flats, in a development that has remained sympathetic to the building’s heritage. Meanwhile, the Margate Renewal Partnership, a collaboration between Thanet district council and other local bodies, is coordinating investment in a range of projects, from housing improvement to revamping civic spaces and the heritage of the Old Town.

As for the future, Margate has been capitalising on a burgeoning reputation for the arts. The building and burning last year of Antony Gormley’s spectacular Waste Man, a 25ft-tall construction made from the detritus of modern consumer society, is an example. But the flagship is likely to be the opening of the Turner Contemporary Gallery near the town’s harbour, and scheduled for completion in 2009.

Even at Dreamland, there is a possibility of new life. A group is campaigning to preserve the site, its rollercoaster – the only such structure to have Grade II listed status – and for fresh investment to keep the park as a going concern.

Following his last presentation on 18th June, David Chipperfield will be presenting the latest T.C. designs at 6:30pm on Tuesday 16th October 2007 at the Theatre Royal, Margate.

It will be interesting to see how the design has progressed since the last presentation, but if you can’t make it, you can be sure that we’ll cover all the developments here.

As always, these events are extremely popular, so booking is essential.
Reserve seats by emailing rfurlong@turnercontemporary.org or telephone 01843 294363.

An interesting new blog arrived on the radar this afternoon.

Margate Architecture sets out to document the changes in the town throughout the regeneration process. Only one post so far, but it looks very promising and worth keeping your eye on.

I often find myself wandering around photographing buildings and anything that catches my eye as a newcomer to the town. This blog will serve as an archive and also to document the changes the town is undergoing as it moves through the ‘regeneration’ process. I have a personal interest in architecture and community development. I’ve moved from Hackney in east London where over the last 9 years I’ve seen the good and the bad from the regeneration process within my neighbourhood.

Thumbing through today’s edition of The Times I was pleased to find a full page write up of Exodus’ upcoming première at the Venice Film Festival.

Unfortunately, the article is fairly unforgiving in it’s description of Margate – it’s a great shame it totally ignored everything being done to improve the town – though Margate has been let down in recent years there is so much going for it’s future. We need to realise what a great future Margate can have.
In my mind, Exodus marks a turning point for the town by showing that great events can happen here and that Margate can attract the talent, resources and the funding for creative industry.

An unemployed printer and an amateur rapper are among a group of non-actors who agreed to appear in a feature film for a bit of a laugh. They never expected it to be selected for one of the most prestigious events in the industry’s calendar, the Venice Film Festival.

Have a read of the complete article at Times Online and then come back and post what you think.

Thanet Council has sent me details of a major new competition to help revitalise Margate Old Town, and they want your help.

The Old Town is an architectural gem and at the heart of Margate’s cultural regeneration, but it is hidden from the view of people visiting he nearby beach, amusement arcades and High Street.

The competition, run by Margate Renewal Partnership aims to reveal this hidden gem to a wider audience. They are looking to commission an innovative piece of work that that is imaginative and artistic and will sign post the Old Town, subtly transforming it without losing its character.

Derek Harding, the Programme Director of the Margate Renewal Partnership says:

We know that there’s a great deal going on in Margate’s creative industries at the moment. They’re at the heart of the town’s regeneration and are helping to change the face of the Old Town beyond recognition from a few years ago, when it was falling into dereliction. The Margate Renewal Partnership is aiming to take that
regeneration forward and we want artists and designers involved in that process. That’s why we want to hear from them, so we can ensure that they’re kept up to date with the work the Partnership is undertaking, but also so that they have the opportunity to get involved in a major project to help promote the Old Town.

To receive the full project brief, contact Margate Renewal Partnership on 01843 609336 or by e-mailing mandy.cronje@thanet.gov.uk.

Some good news for redevelopment followers – this press release just in from Thanet District Council:

Plans have been submitted by Thanet District Council for a derelict and underused area in Margate Old Town.

The application, for Queens Arms Yard, proposes a mixed use development of three and four storey buildings, which will house a café, bar or restaurant, along with 10 retail units or art studios and a total of 24 apartments.

The plans are part of the ongoing regeneration of Margate Old Town by the Council and the Margate Renewal Partnership to create a Cultural Quarter to complement Turner Contemporary. Artists have been involved in helping to draw up the plans of the retail units and art studios to ensure that they meet their needs.

Cllr. Roger Latchford, Cabinet Member for Economy and Culture, said: “The Council and Margate Renewal Partnership are working hard to regenerate Margate and a crucial part of that work is the creation of a Cultural Quarter in the Old Town. There’s no doubt that the work is starting to pay dividends there, with new businesses opening all the time and increasing occupancy levels. Obviously these plans will need to be considered carefully by our Planning Officers to ensure that the best scheme is achieved for everyone. The development of this site will help to bring an area, that’s been a target for fly tippers for some time, back into use, attracting both new businesses and residents into our beautiful Old Town.”

Copies of the application can be viewed at Margate library, Thanet District Council’s offices in Margate or online at www.ukplanning.com and members of the public can give their views on the planning application until Friday 31 August.