March 2024 – November 2024
The Medway Development Company is delighted to announce that the Chatham Pumping Station commission has been awarded to an artist team (march 2024) , Nicole Mollett & José Den Hartog. The artists are working together with Public Art Consultants FrancisKnight to realise this significant new public art project.
Nicole Mollett is a socially engaged public artist who has delivered multiple projects across Kent, including recently delivering the Six Women public art commission which took place in Gillingham in 2022.
José Den Hartog is a Dutch ceramicist with many years’ experience developing architectural public art commissions.
They have collaborated together since 2007, and have a shared passion for making artwork which is inspired by archival imagery, bringing together communities, creating a new sense of understanding of place.
The artists are going to create a large ceramic tile mural for the front façade of the Pumping Station
which draws a multi-layered history of water and the importance it plays in peoples’ lives specifically
in Chatham and Medway. The artwork will feature maritime history, river ecology, waterworks
engineering, and the way the river is an intrinsic part of the landscape and the local identity.
Reflecting peoples’ relationship with water both on a macro and micro level and drawing on
research from the Medway Archives, Greenwich Maritime Museum and Historic Dockyard Chatham.
Nicole Mollett speaking about the project said;
‘’It is a privilege to be chosen by the panel to create a permanent public artwork as part of the new
development in Chatham. Jose and I aim to create artwork which resonates with local heritage and
reveals the connectivity of the people to the Medway. We look forward to researching, meeting and
listening to local people’s stories about the river, and what it means to them. ‘’
José said;
‘’A big project like this is a dream come true. I am looking to working with Nicole again, and getting
to know Chatham more and dive into the maritime history of Medway.’’
José and Nicole ran a series of community engagement and floating ink workshops on the 8th & 9th June 2024 as part of Medway Print Festival in June. Over 76 people took part and were invited to offer suggestions on what stories the artists should feature. For current news on the project head to the artists’ Instagram pages.