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More on KentOnline
A gold-plated ice cream van decorated with vinyl records which doubles as a DJ booth is on display in Gravesend.
Sadie Hennessey's Golden Years piece is part of Estuary 2021 – a large-scale, multi-disciplinary arts festival including contemporary visual art, film, music and literature across on display across North Kent.
Some of the collections on display in the St George's Centre
If you tell the DJ inside the vehicle the memories and stories behind your favourite record – they'll play your song.
Requests can be made every Saturday, until June 13, between 11am and 4pm. The van is situated in the St George's Centre.
Sadie said: "I'm delighted to be part of the estuary festival. The only problem when you're involved in a project is that you don't get to see any of the other artworks.
"It's great feeling knowing that things are happening again in the arts, and this is going on now. I'm really privileged to be a part of it."
Part of the exhibition, inspired by the pop culture collections of ex-Gravesend student Sir Peter Blake, includes a number of shop windows displaying local resident's collections of memorabilia.
Each window is accompanied by audio of the individuals talking about their collections and the stories behind them.
"I can't remember at what stage I proposed an ice cream van - at first I thought we would just spray it gold, but then I thought of these amazing art cars from San Francisco," added Sadie.
"Memory and nostalgia are so important, I think it just goes back, once again, to the fact that something is actually happening, which is so brilliant.
"It's a symbol of hope, that there's more going to happen."
Sadie and her team were assisted in decorating the van by the 1st Northfleet scout group.
She said: "The scouts have been absolutely brilliant and accommodating. They have been amazing, they really went beyond the call of duty."
The piece was co-commissioned by Cement Fields and Gravesham Borough Council.
Gravesham cabinet member for Community and Leisure, Cllr Shane Mochrie-Cox, said: "Sadie's determination to involve the whole community in her work for Estuary 2021 is the reason we were so happy to co-commission the installation.
"The arts and culture have a vital role to play in rebuilding a cohesive community as we emerge from the pandemic, and our community is at the heart of everything we do.
"I would especially like to mention and thank the 1st Northfleet Scout Group who spent three weeks finding items to decorate the golden ice cream van, which is such an eye-catching centrepiece of Sadie's work."
Artwork as part of Estuary 2021 will be on display across North Kent from tomorrow morning until June 13.
Following the route once taken by Victorian paddle steamers, work will populate locations from Southend through the marshes of north Kent incorporating multiple sites along the way.
People will have the chance to draw on the walls of a specially created, open-air pavilion in Chatham and take part in workshops with local artists Bob & Roberta Smith.
Or residents can plug in their headphones for a science fiction audio walk around Northfleet as part of Adam Chodzko's 'The Return of the Fleet Spring Heads.'
Sue Jones, co director of Estuary 2021, said: "I'm delighted to be able to show the wealth of artistic talent we have in Kent, to work together with our Essex neighbours and to highlight the wonderful connection we have through the Thames Estuary."
