Turner Contemporary was the first modern art gallery in Margate this century, right? Wrong. And why are so many studio pottery teapots languishing in charity shops?

Margate, on the north Kent coast, is famous for its amusement palace, Dreamland, for the Chas and Dave song, and for its hipster reinvention this century thanks to David Chipperfield’s Turner Contemporary. But before that gallery opened, another modern seafront structure – the Drum – by a very different modern architect – Terry Farrell – was built here, also celebrating the work of Turner. How did the town end up with two amazing contemporary buildings on the front, and why isn’t the Drum better known – or more widely loved?

And why aren’t people going nuts over the earthy brown wonder of late twentieth century British studio pottery? Especially the teapots. Well, someone is. And I’ve met him.

And that person is writer and artist Dan Thompson, who has lived in Margate for over a decade, and whose work has involved everything from epic community action, pop ups, poetry and large-scale history pieces, and has brought him together with master potter Keith Bymer Jones among any others. You can find out more about Dan’s work on his Substack (Dan Thompson Studio – see below), on his site https://mrdanthompson.wordpress.com/ or on his online shop https://payhip.com/DanThompsonStudio.

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