Afterlife
A riverbed-like table displays 200 ancient amulets set within a coastal tower
Afterlife is a new commission for Folkestone Triennial 2025, installed in a Martello tower on Folkestone’s East Cliff. The installation is an artwork by Katie Paterson designed by Zeller & Moye.
The exhibition explores themes of deep time, geology, and the environment, prompting audiences to consider legacies left for future generations. The project serves as a memorial to species and ecosystems at risk of extinction, intertwining ancient traditions with contemporary environmental concerns. By blending historical ritual with urgent ecological themes, Afterlife becomes both a tribute and a call to action, urging us to protect the delicate balance of life on Earth.
Nearly two hundred ancient amulets from across time and all corners of the globe have been sourced from museums and collections worldwide. For Afterlife, these small, intricate amulets have been recreated from materials sourced from endangered landscapes and fragile ecosystems to serve as a bridge between past and present, drawing on centuries of cultural and spiritual traditions while reflecting the fragility of the natural world today.
Afterlife is installed in a Martello tower, one of a network of circular structures built around Britain’s coastline during the Napoleonic wars. Although the exhibition shows nearly two hundred different amulets, categorised into 10 thematic zones: Biosphere, Hydrosphere, Cryosphere, Place and Climate, Wildfire, Anthropocene, Extraction, Mining, War, and Pollution; Zeller & Moye's design aims to create a homogeneous display presenting all objects with equal significance.
The exhibition design comprises a large circular table of 5.6 meters in diameter that is arranged around the central column of the tower, responding to the existing architecture. The table's width of 1 meter is the result of providing the largest possible area for the display as well as allowing for comfortable circulation around the table. The circular display is cut at two points forming two entrances to the inner ring, placed perpendicular to the main entry of the tower. After entering the tower interior the visitor is faced with an overview of the vast collection of amulets at a first glance before choosing a path to walk along the curved display.
In reference to a riverbed, shallow dips and soft hollows have been carved into the surface of the wooden table, like stones in the sand are washed free by the flow of river water over the pass of time. The arrangement of the amulets oscillates between a layout on an archive table and a random dispersal of artefacts as an archaeologist may find them in the ground.
The table design is a new interpretation of the traditional museum vitrine. A horizontal table top without glass covers allows the visitor to get an unobstructed close look at the detail of the amulets. A series of softly shaped dips in the table's surface act like inverted plinths. As opposed to a traditional plinth that raises an object in order to emphasise its importance, the pillowy dip is a more humble form of displaying an object. With the recesses evenly spread out across the table all amulets are displayed with similar importance without outweighing one over the other. In response to accommodating the varying dimensions of the amulets the dips vary in diameter and depth.
The display table is composed of a top surface that is held 90 cm off the ground by ten thin blade-shaped legs made of solid wood. The assembly of the table as a kit-of-parts allows for future installations in other locations allowing for a sustainable use of the material by extending its lifetime. Local-grown Sycamore wood was selected as the material for the table due to its light colour, its unobtrusive texture and local sourcing. It provides a natural and calm backdrop for the amulets, as well as a smooth and tactile experience to the visitor's hand. In contrast to its rigidity the hard wood is shaped in a way that it appears surprisingly soft, with its surface giving in to the small objects like a cushion. Made of a series of portable CNC-cut parts that can be assembled together by hidden fixings to one continuous piece, the table design minimises visible joints allowing for a seamless background for the display of the amulets.
The exhibition is entirely naturally lit allowing the visitor to experience the amulet's original colours as well as the delicate features of the display through soft shadows. Apart from using a renewable material the exhibition avoids the use of an artificial lighting system, further reducing the project's energy consumption.
By reducing the scope of its renovation to a minimum, the raw as-found character of the historical tower could be kept as much as possible forming a contrast to the precise lines of the exhibition design and the small-scale artefacts. As a result the decaying image of the existing tower accentuates the pristine nature of the new installation that is inserted into it.
Windows have been left without glass to allow for natural ventilation and to link the interior with the surrounding coastal landscape outside. The floors have been renovated to provide good accessibility throughout with new light grey floor paint maintaining the scars of the historical setting whilst providing a neutral background for the exhibition.
Folkestone Triennial is one of the UK’s leading exhibitions of contemporary art in public space. Every three years, artists from around the world are invited to make new work that responds to the town – its coastal landscapes, its stories and the people who live here. From 19 July to 19 October 2025, the Triennial returns for its sixth edition with How Lies the Land? This year, 18 artists from more than 15 countries have created artworks that explore the ground beneath our feet – from its deep histories to the futures it holds.
