The Votive Fishing Fleet

St. Peter's is the Folkestone fishermen's church, which was built 150 years ago as a dedicated place of worship for Folkestone’s fishermen and their families. The Votive Fishing Fleet was commissioned to celebrate and strengthen the relationship between the church and the fishing community. The artwork was inspired by Mexican Votive art and the new installation of 20 ceramic panels is the result of many months research to unearth the history of Folkestone's fishing community and to translate this into an artwork to hang in the fisherman's chapel within St. Peter's Church.

Strange Cargo approached artist's who have a close relationship to Folkestone, to invite them to each illustrate one of the researched stories. The images were transferred to porcelain tiles and glazed to form a series of ceramic votive panels, each telling a separate tale. A series of bespoke ceramic frames were designed by artist Sally Penfold and produced by H & E Smith of Stoke-on-Trent, who have been making tiles since 1918 and who produce tiles for the London Underground stations.

The artworks were painted by Simon Bolton, Kelvin Pawsey, Richie Moment, Sally Penfold, Phillippa Goddard, Terry Noakes, Shane Record, Charles Newington, Angus Cameron, Malcolm Allen, Andy Tuohy, Cherry Sophia Colam, Kate Knight, Greg Stobbs, Scarlett Rickard, Bernard Eveleigh, Helen Lee, Vince Lloyd and Christopher Bone. An accompanying book has been created to record the project.

The artwork was commissioned by St. Peter's Church and made possible through funding from Heritage Lottery Fund and the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust.