Triennial 2011 Artists Strange Cargo
STRANGE CARGO
TITLE: Everywhere Means Something To Someone
Strange Cargo is: Brigitte Orasinski; Lisa Oulton; Hannah Rushforth; Diane Dever
Live/Work: Folkestone
Guidebook (sold from the Visitor Centre and Georges House Gallery), The Old High Street, CT20 1RL. Installation of 200 small acrylic signs around Folkestone. Exhibition at Georges House Gallery from 25 June to 20 August.
Strange Cargo’s Triennial contribution is an illustrated alternative guidebook of their hometown, Folkestone. Through image and text, their A6 pocketbook presents hidden sites and forgotten landmarks of personal interest. It is the outcome of a lengthy collaboration with local residents. A collection of memories, whimsies and facts, the guidebook offers a glimpse of what it is like to be at
home in Folkestone. Two hundred of the observational texts have been printed on discreet acrylic plaques, fixed in their respective locations.
The book is available at the Visitor Centre, price £5.
Strange Cargo, an arts organisation led by Brigitte Orasinski, is creating an illustrated alternative guide to their hometown of Folkestone. Their A6 pocketbook presents the unobserved and hidden sites of local and personal interest. It is the outcome of many months of collaborative work with the community and discussions with local residents, and encapsulates their reflections on what makes a site into a memorable place. Two hundred of their observations have been printed on discreet Perspex labels, which will be fixed in their respective locations. The book will be sold in the Folkestone Triennial Visitor Centre and in other selected commercial outlets.
Over the past 15 years, Strange Cargo has established a reputation for high-profile public art interventions, delivering award-winning projects. They also curate Georges House Gallery in Folkestone’s Creative Quarter, and their ethos of large-scale participation in the visual arts has emerged from their practice in the field of carnival and celebratory arts.
Interview with Brigitte Orasinski of Strange Cargo
Strange Cargo Interview by FT2011 Audio
Recent projects and commissions:
The annual Charivari carnival
‘Like the Back of my Hand’, Folkestone Central Station: handprints of 101 local people all born in separate years of the 20th century
‘Other People’s Photographs’: family album photographs donated by local residents of Folkestone’s 540 streets
Awards:
Rouse Kent Public Art Award (2005)
Urban Public Space Prize – Special Award (2008)
Royal Town Planning Institute – National Art, Culture and Heritage Award (2008)
Charity Awards – Arts, Culture and Sport Award (2008)