PRESS RELEASE
Monday 27 September 2010
Hamish Fulton Walk Three: from Margate to Boulogne
Third walk
Turner Contemporary has commissioned Hamish Fulton to make a series of three walks in the
lead up to the opening of our new landmark gallery in spring 2011.
The third and final walk in the series will take place on 8th November 2010 at Boulogne Port,
with volunteers from France and Kent taking part.
Hamish lives and works in Canterbury, and it is this link to the local area, along with the
opportunity to conduct his group walks in the UK for the first time that inspired us to
commission this series.
Each walk has become an important event in strengthening the connections of the local
community with their town, the seascape and each other. The community’s continued
involvement in this project is a key element to the walks. The focus of the walk being held in
France is to highlight the importance of cross channel tourism to both local communities in
Kent and Boulogne. The participants will be a mix of local people from Kent plus volunteers
and arts students from France.
Second walk
The second walk saw 197 local people walk around the Marine Bathing Pool at Margate beach
on the morning of 3 March 2010. The participants completed seven circuits of the pool wall,
tracing a line out on the beach by walking the same route repeatedly. They walked in silence
and maintained a distance of one meter from the person in front of them.
The volunteers taking part described the walk as a “peaceful”, “meditative” and “serene”.
First walk
Hamish’s first walk took place on 29 January 2009 where 40 people from the University for the
Creative Arts in Canterbury took part. Led by Hamish, they followed a circular route around the
outside of Canterbury's city walls and again undertook the walk in silence, in single file and
maintaining a distance of approximately four metres between each person.
Hamish Fulton
Hamish Fulton’s art focuses on an engagement with the environment and the self through the
experience of walking. He describes himself as a ‘walking artist’ resisting the limitations of the
terms ‘land artist’, ‘performance artist’ or sculptor. In exhibitions he has often produced
photography, text work and sketches that evolve from the experience of a particular walk.
For Fulton, “walking is an art form in its own right, its does not have to be a lesser form of land
art”. Since deciding to “only make art resulting from the experience of individual walks“,
Hamish Fulton has walked in over 25 countries for over three decades. His influences are vast
with interests including the culture of American Indians and the mindfulness and meditation of
Buddhists monks.
For two days in 2009 he was the oldest British person to have summated Mount Everest and
while he does not claim to be a climber or mountaineer his walks have increasingly embraced
the challenge of summiting some of the world’s largest mountains. Among these expeditions,
documented in a recent exhibition at Hausler Contemporary Zürich, was A Guided
Mountaineering Expedition to the Summit of Denali at 20.320 Ft, Alaska May-June 2004.
Although Hamish has undertaken many walks in Europe and beyond, these are the first group
walks that he has led in the UK.
For
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information
please
about
Turner
Contemporary
please
visit
www.turnercontemporary.org for more information about Hamish Fulton visit www.hamishfulton.com
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
For more information and images please contact
Communication and Relationships Manager David Yard Dyard@turnercontemporary.org
Press Officer Chloe Barker Cbarker@turnercontemporary.org or call 01843 294208
Turner Contemporary – www.turnercontemporary.org
Taking inspiration from JMW Turner, Turner Contemporary is a contemporary arts organisation that aims to
enhance the understanding and enjoyment of historical and contemporary art with a dynamic and diverse
international programme of exhibitions and events.
Turner Contemporary is based in Margate, Kent and will open in spring 2011
Hamish Fulton
Fulton was born in London in 1946. He studied at Hammersmith School of Art, London, 1964-65, St Martin’s School
of Art, London, 1966-68, and Royal College of Art, London, 1968-69. Currently lives and works in Canterbury.