HOP Projects CT20

International Artist Residency

HOP Projects CT20 (C.I.C) is an independent, cross-disciplinary and experimental platform for the production, exchange and distribution of the visual arts, installation art, architecture, design and performance. Established in September 2017, it is a non-profit organisation based in the heart of the Creative Quarter in Folkestone, UK. It is committed to a unified vision of bringing together the visual arts with theatre, performance, spatial installations, sound and technology that prioritises the development of ideas above pre-defined genres or disciplines. It believes in the urgency in new modes of expressions and pioneering practices that can tear down the barriers between the audience and the ‘white walls’, making contemporary art relevant and far-reaching to a wider audience.

HOP Project’s International Artist Residency provides an open, supportive and stimulating environment to national and international creative practitioners across all art forms to realise a project, undertake research, develop and expand their practice in Folkestone. The residency, normally completed between one month to three months, will focus on production, experimentation, critical discourse, networking, and local participation. Staying at HOP Projects, participants will become part of a thriving artistic community with an active exhibition and event program will easily and swiftly become well-acquainted with creative professionals working at the cutting edge of cultural productions.

Residents will be provided with high quality live/work accommodation centrally located within the Creative Quarter in Folkestone, with access to the public-facing project space at HOP Projects HQ. Through the residency HOP hopes that artists can use the time to explore new paths within their practice through engaging with Folkestone’s thriving contemporary art scene.

Selected artists will work towards an outcome of their work during or concluding their stay, either as a solo show, public talk, performance, publication and film. ‘Contra Culture’ will be the main focus of our 2020’s arts program, and successful candidates whose work responds to the theme would benefit from the on-going research with the potential to be part of a group show developed by the HOP Projects team. The documentation of this process is essential and will become an important contribution towards HOP Projects’ archive, to be made available to future residents.

Self-catering accommodation, located above the project space.

Project Space (36 sqm/390 sqft) is available outside the annual programme of public events as studio, workshop, or exhibition space if required.

• Audio-visual equipments including a PA system, mixer, monitors, a film projector etc. that is capable in facilitating a multi-media production;
• Logistic and production support from director and curator to ensure individual research and projects are realised to its full potential.
• Publically accessible archive that holds a record of past projects, publications and on-going research. 

Folkestone is a town on the English Channel in the South East coast of England. It has dramatically transformed itself from economic decline to a thriving cultural frontier. Folkestone Triennial has established itself as a significant event in the international calendar of recurring art exhibitions since its inception in 2008 (Andrea Schlieker was the curator). Each Triennial invites artists to engage with the rich cultural history commissions a series of public artworks (some permanent) that collectively create a spirit of place, bringing changes in the thinking of the communities with which they work. The next Folkestone Triennial will take place between September and November 2020.