Curator JOHN McKIERNAN explains more…

MARGATE will always have a place in my heart. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of awaydays to Dreamland as a boy from Peckham.

I moved to Margate in May to work on proposals for the Cultural Olympiad and found myself opening a disused cafe in Cliftonville and then an empty bar in the iconic lido complex.

The project started by accident. I passed by the disused Golden House Grill in Cliff Terrace and spotted 1950s-style table booths inside. The parade of shops opposite the lido chimney had been derelict for more than five years. After a chat about the area's history with the owner, I left with the keys and an idea.

I formed Platform-7 to play host to a series of performances focused on public space and our relationship with it.

In Margate, Turner Contemporary's arrival was as much about developing the town economically as it was a new contemporary art space.

My plan was to reopen the Golden Grill for 13 weeks and gradually clean and decorate the space to represent regeneration. The physical changes are easy to map but the social change around it is more difficult to spot.

To stimulate conversation with and between the customers, artists associated with Platform-7 would provide visual and performance art.

Before opening, and during the first week, I experienced an enormous amount of ill-feeling towards Cliftonville from outsiders. Racist comments were common and talk of its crime and violence gave the impression of it being a "war zone".

Many living around Cliff Terrace are in a perilous situation – a councillor told me that 80 per cent of nearby properties were "unfit". Some families are unable to afford food and others live in a single room. Heating is a luxury and exploitation by unscrupulous landlords is rife.

Despite this deprivation, the sense of community in Cliftonville is overwhelming. The warmth of reception to the cafe was moving – gifts appeared from people and businesses in Cliftonville. Although even a £1 cup of coffee was too expensive for some, it did not deter them from wanting the place to succeed.

The carefully chosen art resonated with the community like nothing I had experienced before. It stimulated debate about the council, the past, the future and the Turner Contemporary.

Although there were supporters of the Turner in the community, I was surprised by the animosity towards the gallery and its first exhibition. There appears to have been a totally inappropriate and unachievable expectation.

Some feel let down and despondent. These feelings interested me and, as I learnt more about the area, I began to understand some deeper issues that underlie attitudes here.

There is a tendency to blame councils for everything, but many of the people I met who wanted to improve their lives were ready to get involved and do it themselves – if given the opportunity.

The Moonbow project provided the chance for the community to gather. The momentum we saw was not due to the art but thanks to the opportunity to release pent-up frustration with how things are, and a desire to improve the situation.

For an arts organisation, the most exciting part of the project was uncovering so much artistic talent in the bedrooms and backrooms of Cliftonville. Our two main exhibitions, Cliftonville Now and What is Food, impressed more than 1,000 visitors who saw the quality of local artists.

The cafe project went way beyond what could have been envisaged. Margate Arts Culture Heritage (Mach) and empty shop organisation Meanwhile Project offered to invest some funding into the Moonbow project around halfway through.

This became vital for the work to continue, as the project was likely to implode without experienced help. Despite funding and takings, investment by Platform-7 was needed to complete the project. The voluntary work of dozens of local people and the generosity of businesses in Northdown Road also ensured it succeeded.

Legacy

The legacy of the project is clear. Groups formed out of the Moonbow project now focus on matters of importance to them, and many people have made friends and met neighbours for the first time. Shops in Cliff Terrace are returning to life, with new businesses set to open.

The project proves the area is commercially viable and that the community needs places to congregate. Seeing Cliff Terrace "come alive again" gave some the biggest buzz. Cliftonville, like much of Thanet, needs to be more self-confident and less negative with the past.

Looking forward, major challenges lie ahead for Cliftonville, Margate and even the Turner. The biggest compliment paid to the project was that we gave people "a feeling of belonging". Communities are about belonging – the more people feel they belong, the stronger a community becomes. We showed the sense of belonging, but the community reached out and made the project belong.