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Controversial artist Tracey Emin unveiled a trail of baby clothes in a seaside town as her latest project which was inspired by the “high percentage” of teenage pregnancies in her home town.

Emin is one of 22 artists who have been commissioned to create works for the first Folkestone Triennial, Tales of Time and Space.

Her installation creates a trail of baby clothes through Folkestone, each one cast in bronze and painted to match the original.

She is one of a group of 22 artists who have been commissioned to create new works for the first Folkestone Triennial, Tales of Time and Space.


Emin said that her childhood in nearby Margate had influenced her choice of work. “There was a lot of teenage mothers. The girls who had their babies young were treated as if they were stupid but actually they were sometimes the most intelligent girls,” she said. “There is something very forlorn about baby clothes being left behind. You cannot just disregard them, they represent an innocence, something to be captured.”

Ruth Herron, of the Kent Teenage Pregnancy Partnership, said: “It's interesting that Tracey has decided to showcase this piece of work. Anything which raises the profile of the work that needs to be done to reduce teenage conception is welcomed.”