Folkestone residents in search of gold

A German artist has buried €12,500 worth of gold on the beach of this town on the occasion of an art exhibition in Folkestone. It concerns thirty gold bars of different sizes that are hidden here and there in the sand. To make life difficult for professional treasure hunters, the artist has also buried numerous round metal plates.

The project is known as the 'Folkestone Digs', a name that describes the situation on the spot. On the beach, plenty of people are busy with shovels and sieves, hoping to find some of the treasure.

The town of Folkestone has a tradition of making various public spaces available to artists once every three years. Artists such as Tracey Emin, Jeremy Deller and Martin Creed have also contributed to this art event.

Buried Gold

The idea of thirty Gold bars buried on the beach comes from the German artist Michael Sailstorfer. He thinks that people will be looking for the gold on the beach for a long time, because no one knows exactly how many gold bars have already been dug up and whether there is anything left to be had. "This work of art will last forever, because no one knows if all the gold has already been found or not.", Sailstorfer stated. He adds a somewhat philosophical message: "People will come to the beach to search. Some will be successful, some will not. And that's life."

Sailstorfer wonders what people will do with the gold. Will they exchange the treasure at the jeweler for money? Or will they keep the gold in the hope that it will create collector's value? Or do they just keep it with the idea that gold will become more valuable in the future?

In Search of Gold (Image from The Guardian)