Margate artist Tracey Emin’s latest work has been unveiled to great acclaim at a Kent seaside town, regenerating itself through art. But it’s not her much-loved home town.

Her bronze sculptures highlighting the high number of teenage pregnancies in Thanet are at the Folkestone Triennial arts festival, which includes 22 outdoor works by internationally known contemporary artists. But her home town is still without any of her work.

She said: “The Turner Contemporary has a lot to learn from this event.”

She described the proposed £17.5million gallery as “this big thing jumping into town as if it is going to save Margate” and added that people can walk around Folkestone to see the art and what the town has to offer for nothing.

“There’s nothing for me to see in Margate, except the last thing that burned down,” she said.

Her comments come after the latest in a series of high-profile arson attacks in Thanet, the most recent being the fire on the historic Scenic Railway at Dreamland, and it was that which inspired her to call for greater intervention in the town.

She said: “I think the Government should get involved in Margate. There are so many brilliant things to see in Margate, with the architecture, the sunsets, the Walpole Bay hotel, the Margate Caves.

“It’s the most beautiful place, but it is also derelict, burnt up; the neon is destroyed, there are arson attacks and nobody seems to be doing anything about it.”

The Folkestone Triennial runs until September 14, with maps of walks around the art available on the internet or from shops in the town.

~For the full story, see the Thanet Extra, out on Wednesday.