The Journey 

Lead Artist Nicole Mollett will curate, co-ordinate and deliver a new programme of Baton journeys and visits to priority places across Kent. Each visit engages a diverse range of audiences – comprised of bespoke local creative projects, ‘happenings’, events, and creative commissions. They bring together artists and local people to be inspired by and respond to the Baton, to see their local area afresh, and to collaborate in generating creative responses in words and images.

The Residencies 

The residency programme fully realises the creative opportunities that emerged clearly from the early phase of Baton commissioning and launch, both as a way of exploring place in Kent through creative practice, and of creating a focus where Kent's creative community can have a dialogue, and exchange idea, knowledge and explore future possibilities. Co-ordinated by the Lead artist, and selected by the Baton Board, a programme of ten ambitious residencies are proposed as opportunities for emerging and established artists, across a range of media (eg, visual artists, poets/writers) to explore, interpret and respond to ideas of ‘place’. The aim is also to build a creative community to enable an exchange of ideas, and offers space to experiment and develop fresh thinking

The Map

During the Baton journey, each visit will trigger stories, folklore and vernacular insights into local places and experiences; and each residency will generate new ideas, creative voices and mark-making. After two years this will culminate in a body of material, a rich and layered resource that speaks reams of the different places, textures and narratives that comprise Kent. The most innovative and exciting discoveries will be brought together in a new interactive artwork that will tell the alternative stories of Kent.

What will result? The ‘Map of Kent’ will be informed by the material generated over the journey. We envisage at this stage that this work will be multi-layered; it will take the visitor on an exploratory journey of twists and turns that reflects the visitor’s questions and interests, and in doing so inviting them to leave their mark and become part of the work.