MARGATE.- Since opening in 2011, Turner Contemporary has now welcomed 2.8 million visits to the gallery, bringing world-class art to Margate, offering unique learning opportunities, and putting over £67 million into the local economy. The gallery has drawn audiences from Kent, London and beyond, attracting thousands of British and international tourists, with 39% of visitors citing Turner Contemporary as their motivation for visiting Margate.

In the past year, the gallery successfully installed a human-sized statue by Turner Prize winner Antony Gormley in the sea, and brought Tracey Emin’s famous My bed to Margate. Artworks have travelled across the globe from Cambodia and MoMA in New York. In Spring Turner Contemporary worked with members of the community to deliver a pioneering exhibition, Journeys with ‘The Waste Land’, which saw local people curate the show, selecting the artworks and designing the layout. The exhibition was featured in Vogue, the Guardian, the New York Times and the Independent – to name a few.

Last summer Turner Contemporary presented its most ambitious learning project to date, Art Inspiring Change, a project that was led by 70 primary school children from four local schools who transformed four sites in Margate. This year, the gallery organised our most successful Portfolio competition to date, with over 1,800 pupils, students and teachers from Kent and Medway entering artwork. The exhibition of the winners’ work is on display in at the gallery until 2nd September.

The next year promises a thrilling schedule of exhibitions featuring contemporary and historical artwork, including new commissions, major retrospectives and Turner Prize 2019.

Coming soon…

Cornelia Parker, Perpetual Canon
Sat 15 Sep 2018 – Mon 18 Mar 2019
Perpetual Canon is an installation by Cornelia Parker RA. It is made up of sixty flattened instruments once belonging to a brass band. It will be installed in Turner Contemporary’s Sunley Gallery on the ground floor this autumn as part of RA250 UK, celebrating 250 years since the founding of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Patrick Heron
Fri 19 Oct 2018 – Sun 6 Jan 2019
Celebrate the artist Patrick Heron (1920-99) in this retrospective exhibition, the first major show of his work for twenty years. One of the most significant and innovative figures in 20th century British art, Heron played a vital role in the development of post-war abstract painting.

Akram Zaatari
Fri 19 Oct 2018 – Sun 6 Jan 2019
This autumn Turner Contemporary will present The Script, an exhibition by internationally renowned artist Akram Zaatari. The exhibition includes a new commission of the same name inspired by Zaatari’s continuing observations of online Muslim societies globally.

Katie Paterson
Sat 26 Jan - Mon 6 May 2019
In spring 2019 Turner Contemporary will stage the largest UK exhibition of Scottish artist Katie Paterson to date, paired with a selection of works by JMW Turner. This exhibition will include the majority of Paterson’s existing works, which explore our relationship as humans with the vastness of the universe.

Turner Prize 2019
Oct 2019 - Jan 2020 (Dates TBC)
One of the best-known prizes for visual arts in the world, Turner Prize 2019 is coming to Turner Contemporary. Four of the most exciting artists working right now are shortlisted to win the prize based on an outstanding exhibition that has taken place in the previous year. The names of these artists will be announced in Spring 2019.