Turner Contemporary announces 2013 summer events programme

Following a lively spring where we celebrated our second birthday, Turner Contemporary has an exciting summer programme lined up. Curiosity: Art and the Pleasures of Knowing opens on 25th May with a week of celebrations, including a mesmerising performance by artist Aura Satz, Mystic Sid the fortune telling dog and create your own Rorschach print in our afternoon workshop. In addition, throughout May half term, a frenzy of fossil inspired events and workshops will take place for Turner Contemporary’s Fossil Week (26 May-1 June).

Curiosity Opening Weekend Celebrations Sat 25 May, free Enjoy the opening day of our summer exhibition Curiosity: Art and the Pleasures of Knowing with our celebratory events. Kids take the lead on Saturday 25 May as Arthur Trillo’s (son of our generate artist Sara Wicks) supernaturally skilled dog Mystic Sid reads your fortune (11am - 12pm, free). Meanwhile in our family tours children will guide you through the exhibition selecting their favourite objects as discussion points (11am, free). Create your own Rorschach print in our afternoon workshop (1 - 4pm, free). Watch exhibiting artist Aura Satz’s mesmerising performance which mixes a film of Rorschach-like sound images accompanied by a live voice over that converts sound into light (5pm, free).

Fossil Week (26 May-1 June) Fossil & Impressions Sun 26 May 2013, 1-4pm, drop in £3 per child/free for adults, under 3s and families in CT9 Make your own fossil impressions into clay, led by our Navigators.     Fossil & Skeletons Wed 29 and 30 May 2013 (half term), 1-4pm, drop in £3 per child/free for adults, under 3s and families in CT9 Come along to this workshop and create your own unusual skeleton or fossil to take home.   Talk: Coastal Dinosaurs Sat 1 June, 12 noon, £6/£5 (ticket includes free entry into the Fossil Fair) Philip Hadland from the Beaney Art Museum and Library in Canterbury announces his extraordinary latest fossil discovery found in Folkestone. Fossil Fair Sat 1 June 2013, 1-4pm, £3, pay at the door £3 per child/free for adults, under 3s and families in CT9 Dr Alasdair Bruce and the Rock Doc Team hosts an exciting Fossil Fair. Come and have your fossil identified by fossil experts, who are on hand to tell you more about your fossil findings.   Big Foot Sat 1 June, 1-4pm, free Come and find Big Foot prints embedded on our terrace, and make some of your own with artist Stephen Fowler.   Page Turner5 June- 21 July, Clore Learning Studio, free The winners, runners up and shortlisted entries of our annual Page Turner Competition are displayed in our Clore Learning Studio.   Inspiring Learning Education EveningWed 5 June, 4:30-6pm, free At this free taster evening for educators and community leaders you can see our summer exhibition Curiosity, hear curator Brian Dillon talk about the exhibition, meet the learning team, try our practical taster sessions, discover resources and network with other educators. Register now: Call 01843 233 000Email learn@turnercontemporary.org Cabinets of Curiosity Curator’s Talk Wed 5 June, 6pm, £6/£5 Curator of Curiosity: Art and the Pleasures of Knowing Brian Dillon talks about the exhibition and the intellectual and aesthetic freedom that emerged for contemporary artists in seventeenth-century art and science.    Assembly (Curiosity) by Agency Sat 8 June, 3pm, free The Belgian artist group Agency invite you to gather around a specific curiosity case in the exhibition to hear from invited respondents, including artists, scientists, academics and historians about their thoughts and responses to it.   Music for Wellbeing Sat 15 June, 1-4pm, free In partnership with Music 4 Wellbeing, musician Peter Cook and pupils from Bromstone primary school in Broadstairs teach you how to play Curiosity inspired instruments.     Love Architecture Week (24-30 June) There and Back and Repeat Tues 25 June, 6-7pm, £6/£5 Curiosity exhibition architect Matt Ball from David Chipperfield Architects, designers of the Turner Contemporary building, talks about his inspiration for the exhibition design and leads a walking tour through the gallery layout, considering the exhibition design process as a story of collecting ‘curiosities’.  Late Night Love Architecture Fri 28 June, 6-9pm, free To celebrate Love Architecture Week, join us for a free evening of architectural inspired performance and film. Generate artist Andy Malone creates galleries with reused match boxes. Daisy Trillo (Generate artist Sara Wick’s daughter) returns with her diorama. Artist group Obsolete Studios from Canterbury Christ Church University present a display of tinotypes in the Learning Studio. Plus Royal College of Art sculpture students create Animal Architecture inspired by Tacita Dean’s film Manhattan Mouse Museum. Turner Architects Models Exhibition 27-30 June, free From amateurs to construction professionals, come and see a range of architectural models of life size buildings and constructions that can be found in the South East. The exhibition is organised by Betteridge & Milsom and celebrates the RIBA’s Love Architecture Week.   RIBA Sandcastle Challenge Sat 29 June, 10am-3pm, free We are off to the beach supporting The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Sand Castle Challenge. Whether you are a budding young sandcastle designer or someone with a little more experience, this will be your chance to show off your skills. Bring along a bucket and spade and be a part of the Sandcastle Challenge. Judging will start from 2.30pm – winners to be announced at 3pm. It is free to enter - however, please inform the RIBA in advance if you would like to take part by emailing emma.hardy@riba.org  Primary school: Curious Day of Fun Primary Schools - year 5 and 6 Wed, 26 June, 10-3pm, £6 An opportunity for children to take part in hands-on sessions with practising artists and museum educators in our stimulating and inspiring gallery spaces. Sessions are led by Turner Contemporary, Canterbury Museums, Stour Valley Arts and the Powell-Cotton Museum as well as some special guests who will be helping out. Curious Day of Fun includes hands-on sessions with experts, guided access to the exhibitions and all materials.

Dead Symphony Performance: Sat 6 July, 4pm & 6pm Talk: Sat 6 July, 5pm £10/£8 There’s a moment, just before death, that some people hear particular music. This fascinating and intriguing finding is the inspiration for the artist Saskia Moore’s new work, Dead Symphony. Alongside the performance join artist Saskia Moore as she talks about the project in collaboration with music ensemble Apartment House. Talk: The World’s Most Curious Flowers with Tom Hart Dyke Thu 11 July, 3pm, £6/£5  (free cup of tea with every ticket)  Kidnapped in Columbia and held hostage for nine months while trying to find a rare orchid, presenter of BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World and curator of the World Garden and Lullistone Castle, Tom Hart Dyke talks about plant hunting and his quest to find some of the world’s rarest plant species. Sixth Form Master Class Fri 12 July, 10am-4pm, £11 per head, teachers go free Investigate Turner’s bird paintings, then paint your own detailed watercolours from life with artist and ornithologist Andy Malone. Meanwhile Nigel Breadman brings a mobile yurt to the gallery in which students can make their own cyanotypes inspired by the exhibition. Curate your own installation using historic objects and found curiosities with an expert from the Powell-Cotton Museum.   Dan Graham: artist talk Wed 17 July, 6pm, £8/£6 Turner Contemporary offers a unique opportunity to hear influential American artist Dan Graham talk about his outdoor pavilions, one of which is currently on show on our South Terrace, as well as hear him speak about his architectural drawings on display on our ground floor. Summer School: Arts Award in a week Open to young people aged 11 – 16 of all abilities All materials supplied, refreshments supplied, lunch is not supplied Sat 29 July – Wed 2 August 10am-5pm, £95 per head Young people can acquire the Bronze Art Award during our first summer school. Complete your own personal, unique portfolio for your Bronze Art Award, which is an accredited award moderated by Trinity University and supported by Arts Council England. The programme develops creativity, leadership and communication skills. Katie Paterson: artist talk  Tue 30 July, 3pm (free cup of tea with every ticket) Katie Paterson talks about her work in Curiosity - a meteorite she has melted down and reformed to send back into orbit. Space Wed 31 July & Thu 1 August, 1 - 4pm, drop in £3 per child/free for adults, under 3s and families in CT9 Inspired by Katie Paterson’s meteorite, come along and make cosmic sculptures that could have come from outer space in a workshop led by the artist.

Transform & Make Wed 7 August & Thu 8 August, 1 - 4pm, drop in £3 per child/free for adults, under 3s and families in CT9 Transform skulls, features, twigs and more natural found objects into your own magnificent specimens with artist Sara Wicks.     Animal Misfits Wed 21 August & Thu 22 August, 1 - 4pm, drop in £3 per child/free for adults, under 3s and families in CT9 Inspired by Thomas Grünfeld’s hybrid taxidermy animals, make your own mythological creatures with artist Nicola McCarthy and merge together different animal anatomy taken from an array of stuffed animal toys.   Wild Man Drawing Wed 14 Aug & Thu 15 August, 1-4pm, drop in £3 per child/free for adults, under 3s and families in CT9 An unusual life drawing class, led by artist Stephen Fowler models dress up in beastly costumes and pose behind a white screen, ready for you to draw their silhouettes of the yeti’s and big foots aka ‘Wild Man’. Bird Painting Wed 28 Aug & Thu 29 August, 1-4pm, drop in £3 per child/free for adults, under 3s and families in CT9 Create your own watercolour of a bird with artist Andy Malone using taxidermied birds from the Powell-Cotton Museum in Birchington.

Free exhibition tours Every Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday, 11 – 11:30am Spotlight toursEvery Friday, 3pm, free Turner Contemporary staff reveal personal stories unlocked by objects and artworks in Curiosity, in a personal tour of the exhibition Craft ClubSun 29 June, Sat 27 July, Sat 31 Aug, 1-4pm, drop in, free Learn to knit, crochet, weave, sew and more with our friendly craft enthusiasts.

Family workshops Every Sunday, and Wednesday and Thursdays during school holidays, £3 per child/free for adults, under 3s and families living in CT9 Full event information can be found on our website at turnercontemporary,org/whatson Self-guided resource: Curious Consequences 30 July – 15 September, all day, free Child artists Daisy and Arthur Trillo (children of our Generate artists Andy Malone and Sara Wicks) create curious activities for you to do in an intriguing game of consequences. Full event information can be found on our website at turnercontemporary.org/whatson.