Queen of Pop Madonna has been back in Margate just three months after her last visit.
The American singer, songwriter and record producer returned to visit friend Dame Tracey Emin and take a look at Margate’s Off Season art festival.
Madonna, who has a total of 18 multi-platinum albums, including Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), and The Immaculate Collection (1990), was full of praise for Dame Tracey and the town.
Writing on social media, she said: “Dame Tracey Emin is a Pearl. A precious necklace that has been draped around a seaside Town in England called Margate.
“I have known Tracey for over 25 years and I’ve always been a fan of her extremely personal and provocative work. But what she has created in this community by the sea is quite remarkable.
“She has an artist residency program where she invites young artists from all around the world to come and paint and live for several months, artist who otherwise would have no place to paint and develop their talent and be a part of the many exhibitions that happen around Margate.
“I’ve been there a few times now and I’m always struck by the commitment and passion of all of these artists. Hungry, possessed, and extremely grateful to have this opportunity. They all have very touching stories to share and honestly it’s so refreshing to witness them working in such a dedicated way. Not only that, but the whole town seems to be inhabited and energized by creativity. Writers and performance artists, photographers, and painters. This is my idea of heaven.
“Whenever I go there, I feel like I’ve entered a dream. On top of all of that, I get to eat at my favourite Italian restaurant, which I’m not giving anyone the name of because then everyone’s going to go there and it only has one large table!!
“Good to share something in the news that is not about hatred and killing but celebrates human connection and the ability that Art has to elevate people. To bring people together.”
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During her last visit in October, Madonna visited the Carl Freedman Gallery and then stopped for something to eat at Bottega Caruso.
Dame Tracey Emin’s major upcoming exhibition, A Second Life, runs at Tate Modern, London from 27 February to 31 August, featuring over 90 works across her 40-year career, including new paintings and sculptures exploring survival and her life after cancer.
Her residency programme for upcoming artists is based at the TKE Studio site in Victoria Road/Dane Road.
Following the success of its inaugural edition in January 2025, Off Season—Margate’s completely free, pop-up arts festival—returned this month with more than 150 exhibitions across the seaside town.
Madonna: “Whenever I go there, I feel like I’ve entered a dream.”
Funnily enough, I feel much the same!
Madonna may have entered a dream – but she did not enter Dreamland.
She will never get to ride the roller coaster either . . .
All very nice for people with money,and supporting more art,trying living here and not being into art.is no dream
I am ‘into art’ and I still find this article nauseating. No reflection on Kathy, it’s the Tracey Emin worship & viewing Margate through extremely rose-coloured lenses. Margate does have its good points, but ‘heaven’ it is not! Probably anywhere can seem like heaven if you’re fabulously rich, well, maybe …
May be Thanet council can arrange a top floor penthouse in Arlington house for Madonna 🤔
Tracey Emin has the penthouse at AH .
Oh come on Madge, Margate is much nicer than that!
an excellent post from Carina , it sums the whole farce up completely – its all nonsense and does not reflect the opinions of ” normal ” thanet people
So long as they keep their nauseating woke politics to themselves …
This is my idea of heaven.
Thats been honest compared to trumps America it probably is heaven
Emin-forty one years in art & has never done anything artistic
Madonna-forty five years in music & done nothing good musically since 1998
She was always rubbish, being virtually booed off the stage at Live Aid.
I think that you are forgetting her Confessions on the dance floor album which came out in 2005:which had the big hit Hung Up on it with the ABBA sample on it . Her live album from that tour is fantastic too but I would agree that her Ray of light album from 1998 is probably her best
Why “sample” ABBA? Can’t she come up with her own songs?
I am forgetting nothing-ROL was no doubt her best album, but it was all downhill from there.
Checksfield , Madonna IS a Pop icon which you can’t deny and much more relevant than the stuff you like by Freddie and the dreamers . As per usual,,you’re stuck in the early 60’s
Madonna is in her late 60’s.
She couldn’t dance like Freddie-I’m telling you now.
Must have been going around with an AI headset showing the fake Margate. Margate is not a dream anymore and no scenic railway either. Utterly hopeless. The wealthy never see the worst of Thanet.
Like the Queen when she visited I bet they even cleaned the dog crap up for her. Like Liz did she must think the entire world smells of fresh paint & floor cleaner.
Madonna has just bigged margate up to her 20 million followers. And still the negative fools on here mock and moan.
She’s lied.
And how many of them will come here? We don’t need the kind of people who worship her anyway.
ms madona looks like she has been stuffed and mounted ( wait for it ) our tracy looks like – no i will leave that up to you dear readers