Britart at the seaside - art and teenage pregnancy - Julie's Blog

The Guardian on Saturday June 14th 2008 ran a full page story about Tracey Emin’s latest sculptures reflecting teenage pregnancy on display in Folkstone The Emin sculptures are part of the first Folkestone Triennial which opens this weekend and continues for the next three months. Many artists feature their work like all the artists, Emin had been invited to Folkestone to get inspiration for their work.

She is quoted as saying "For me personally I find a lot of public sculptures very big and very macho and dominating and intrusive. I like little things in public. As I walked around all I kept seeing was lots of young girls with babies, it's like Margate and the whole of the south-east really. I was thinking how could I make something for them." Essentially she chooses teenage pregnancy as her inspiration for her bronzed baby items which are displayed in and around Folkstone.

What I found fascinating about this newspaper article was the positive spin on teenage pregnancy (albeit brief) influenced by Emin’s perspective that teenage mums are treated badly on the whole as some kind of problematic phenomena. I couldn’t agree more. If our starting point in judging the age of motherhood is rooted in the word ‘problem’ then it is very hard to portray anything positive. In my mind motherhood can be tough, whatever the age, indeed Emin comments that maybe having a child at 50 is stupid!!! Her contribution through art to raise the issue and hopefully stimulate lively debate is very welcome. I feel that for too long now young mums can get a raw deal. By being depicted as a problem that affects public health targets and government policy the positives and good things that many young mums achieve is hidden. This said, what about the dads?

Again the spin is typically biased towards young women but young men have a role and influence too. I do hope that Emin’s work and the work of other artists continue to portray a more balanced perspective. If you're in Folkstone take a look and do let us know what you think, it would be great to have your comments anyway.