Creative Arts in Kent Thameside |
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In ‘The Mirror of the Sea’ Joseph Conrad likened the quietly smoking slender chimneys of North Kent cement works to ‘palm groves on the coral strands of distant islands’.
The area’s long tradition of artistic patronage continues to this day, with much of the current new development featuring specially commissioned artwork and buildings by leading architects and designers:
- Ingress Park Greenhithe is set in a glorious landscape which includes Ingress Abbey (Grade II), garden follies and waterfront walkway with decorative paving and sculpture
- The new Jeskyns community park in Gravesend features contemporary sculptures inspired by the human form
- The architecture at Bluewater is inspired by Kentish oast houses, and the surrounding parkland includes water features and contemporary sculptures
- At Waterstone Park Tim Carrington’s 15 foot high sculpture of recycled glass taken from the Thames foreshore celebrates former Greenhithe resident Sir Erasmus Wilson who financed the transportation of ‘Cleopatra’s Needle’ from Alexandria, Egypt
- An international competition for a major piece of public art at Ebbsfleet has recently been launched
- Original work can be commissioned from several artists who work locally. Most participate in the annual South east open studios event which takes place each June.
Web links:
Bendigo studio group of artists greenhithe
The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists.
Charles Dickens
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