I have curated two exhibitions in Folkestone!

Thanks to the generosity of UCA (who provided me with the gallery space for two weeks), I could curate two exhibitions with 21 brilliant artists from the UK, USA, Canada and Poland. Instead of putting together one show for two weeks, I decided to spice things up and put together two one-week-long-shows: ‘Polskie Ksero’ and ‘Hauntings’, the latter co-curated with the brilliant Astra Papachristodoulou from Poem Atlas.

We opened the first show on the 6 November 2023 with a well-attended opening party and closed the second show on the 19 November 2023 with a lively finissage.

Polskie Ksero was an exhibition featuring seven contemporary Polish artists (and one Croatian) who created artwork using a photocopier, it was an exhibition encompassing various forms from Xeroxed photography, through collage poems, to street art prints. Our artists were: interdisciplinary Beton Collective from Folkestone, painter and photographer Paweł Jaskuła, illustrator Malv Miel, photographer Małgorzata Pawicka, street artist Someart, visual artist and performer Śomi Śniegocka, and me.

We couldn’t have done it without our amazing sponsors: ArtHaus Folkestone, The Folkestone Bookshop, Fundacja Wisławy Szymborskiej (The Wisława Szymborska Foundation). I also couldn’t have done it without some help during the installation from Śomi, Małgorzata and her partner.

Below you can see pictures from Polskie Ksero:

Sunday 12 was a bit difficult in the evening, as I had to take down Polskie Ksero and put up ‘Hauntings’. Thankfully I had help from Stephen Mooney, Alexis and her partner (big thanks, all!). It felt bittersweet but I was happy with the outcome as we received very good feedback and hosted 103 visitors!

The second exhibition, ‘Hauntings’, started on the 13 November – what day could be better to start a haunted exhibition than the thirteenth of the month! ‘Hauntings’ was an exhibition of visual and object poetry with 14 marvellous artists. It showed very well the beauty, creativity and intricacy of visual and object poetry. Overall, it was a captivating show! The exhibition featured poets from the UK, the US, Canada and beyond. Contributors included Josephine Carter, Sarah Cave, Stephen Emmerson, Alexis Fedorjaczenko, Lara Felsing, Stephen Mooney, Nick Murray, Jacqueline Nicholls, Astra Papachristodoulou, Vik Shirley, Sasha Stiles, Luke Thompson, Robert R. Thurman, and me.

The closing party took place on Sunday 19th November, and featured readings and performances from some of the exhibition’s contributors: Astra Papachristodoulou, Stephen Emmerson, Alexis Fedorjaczenko, Stephen Mooney, Josephine Carter & me. Below you can watch the complete readings and performances:

I’m extremely grateful to all the visitors who came to both parties, visited during these two weeks (almost 200 people!), chatted with us and left good feedback. I’m also incredibly honoured that these artists trusted me with their artwork! And very happy to have collaborated with Astra who’s a fabulous artist and a very proficient curator. 

Here’s to many more exhibitions! Yay!