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moonbow margate, a summer intervention                                                     June - September 2011  

cliff terrace, cliftonville, margate, kent                                                                 duration: 13 weeks

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moonbow margate was a temporary café performance bar space in a derelict shop on a disused parade in cliftonville, margate, within 4 minutes walk of the new £18m turner contemporary gallery.   running from june to september 2011, the space set out to become a representation of change that often takes place following art-led regeneration and looked to be reflective of the way local people view and interact with this change.  the ward in which the café is located remains one of the most deprived in the uk.  unemployment is above the national average and the area has a large overseas population.



 

operating as a functioning café bar the intention was to use live performance and art exhibitions to explore differing aspects of the physical, emotional, political and communal change that takes place in an area designated for art-led regeneration.  the space engaged with the ideas of shifting demographics, culinary tastes, housing stock and commercial investment, affordability, change resistance, displacement, community, apathy, culturalism, memory and nostalgia.

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it was accepted that by creating this space, even for a short period of 3 months, it would be embedding itself within the narrative and the ripples would in themselves be a disruption to the order of any change already taking place.   little could have been known in how big the ripples would be from this project [click here to read more on this extraordinary intervention]

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click for:      gallery    |   the projects, the people and the press ​   |  accompanying essay​