A series of scarecrow-esque figures that appeared overnight in various locations in Kent has won a top art award.

‘Hei People’ has won the prestigious Rouse Kent Public Art Award 2009 which is awarded every two years by Kings Hill developer Liberty Property Trust UK Ltd and Kent County Council for the best new piece of public art created in the county.

The runner up for the award was ‘Plotlands’ by Clio Barnard, a film and book marking the demise of the plotland community on the Seasalter Marshes. ‘Breaking Boundaries’ part of Ashford’s £15 million ‘shared space’ highway scheme and ]AND HERE, a film of North Kent’s industrial and urban environment were both highly commended.

‘Hei People’ was created as a series of three site-specific temporary installations by Reijo Kela, and comprised a total of 646 dressed scarecrow-like figures made from straw, wood and dirt which appeared in three locations – in a wheatfield at Barrett’s Folly Farm in Shorne; at Fort Amherst in Chatham and at Cowstead Farm on the Isle of Sheppey.

Early in the morning and late at night the figures appeared motionless but in daylight they ‘came alive’ and with the setting sun presented a bright and joyous picture. When the wind blew, their hay hair and clothes flapped rhythmically as if they had suddenly sprung to life. The project website www.nklaap.com/heiPeople.html continues to receive over 500 viewings a month.

The award was presented by Janet Street-Porter at a VIP reception at the Kings Hill Golf Club, who said the judges were impressed by the way the ‘work engaged the public both in a rural and urban context and combined a sense of magic and mystery with a feeling of fun.”

The winning artist Reijo Kela received a cheque for £7,000, collected on the night by the work’s project manager Päivi Seppälä. The commissioner, North Kent Local Authorities Arts Partnership (NKLAAP), received £5,000 and the Rouse Chair, designed by Kent artist Will Glanfield, to keep for two years. The runner up artist received £3,000.

The runner up was ‘Plotlands’ by Clio Barnard and commissioned by Whitstable Biennale. The work recalls the once thriving life on the marshes which in the last six years has gradually disappeared, leaving abandoned structures and overgrown plants marking out what were once gardens, all visible from the nearby train line.

It was in two parts - a film of a burning shack projected on the marshes at dusk for an audience of commuters on passing trains and a copy of the ‘Plotlands’ book placed on the train seats. The burning shack acted as a potent symbol that was explored from various angles in the book and which reached an audience that would not necessarily have visited art works before.

Two works were highly commended. ‘Breaking Boundaries’ in Ashford is a series of artworks integrated into the town’s £15 million ‘shared space’ highway scheme which aims to achieve a greater balance between motorists and pedestrians. They include ‘not a roundabout’, tree grilles, bollards and bespoke seating created by John Atkin; a 250m linear floorscape water feature by Simeon Nelson and a family of bespoke lighting columns and a lighting colour strategy by Nayan Kulkarni. The project also included a temporary work ‘The Lost 0’ by Michael Pinsky.

‘]AND HERE’ is a film celebrating the built environment of North Kent and capturing locations which are changing due to the regeneration of the Thames Gateway. Filmed in black and white by Brussels-based artist Peter Downsbrough it captures a wide variety of images, from town centres to the container transport hub on the Isle of Grain and the Isle of Sheppey’s caravans, creating beauty from mundane landscapes.

The award attracted 28 entries and to be eligible to enter the works had to be made for, and sited, in a public space in the county of Kent to which the public has free access; be the work of a professional artist; have been completed between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2009; and highlight the important contribution of commissioned artworks to quality public spaces and to place-making.