The commission

A group of residents and shopkeepers of the city centre of Calais wanted to highlight their neighbourhood and mark the itinerary between the city centre to the International City of Lace and Fashion which had recently opened. They decided to commission an artist to create a circuit to point out the city heritage features. The aim was also to attract tourists and make the centre more attractive for its residents.

The artwork

Hamish Fulton proposed several short walks in the centre of Calais, including one of 900 paces between the boulevard Jacquard and the Cité internationale de la Dentelle, materialised by a series of graphic elements in bronze on the ground. He links these walks to other walks in France, from the Mediterranean sea to Boulogne, or the link between Boulogne and Calais. He shows the power of walking, to link and connect different elements however far they are geographical and symbolically. We are all invited, residents or passers-by, to take up the walk and take a fresh look at the city.

The artist

Hamish Fulton is a British conceptual artist who was born in 1946 and lives in Canterbury. Since the 70's he has been walking all round the world and has initiated several hundred walks. Even though he is often assimilated to Land Art, the work of Hamish Fulton does not mark the landscape with his footprint. He brings photographs, drawings and writings back from his expeditions, which he shows in exhibitions and publications. For Hamish Fulton, what is essential is the walk itself, which offers a privileged relationship to nature. Indeed, the works are more the finalisation of a solitary walk in nature that images of the places. Since the 90s, he also organizes collective walks which he leads in different places and responding to different geographical and political situations.