Kollectiv – A Community Art Initiative

Katie and Joseph Pucekovic-Szyszko had made their separate ways to Folkestone.  But once met, magnetically connected and are now the powers behind Kollectiv and The Green Room in town.  Their energy is channeled into managing spaces that can show art and performances, and become community arenas for collaborations to happen.  Folkelife met to find out the plans these two have for Kollectiv at the bottom of The Old High Street, and The Green Room at The Grand.

Katie: “I’m originally from Poland but have soon been in the UK longer than I have lived there.  I moved to Hawkinge 5 years ago with a my previous partner whilst doing my PhD in creative writing at University of Kent.  When we split up I was considering moving back to London, or to Canterbury where I had friends, and hadn’t actually visited Folkestone at all.  I came down here for an exhibition at Touchbase on Tontine Street and met David Alderman who seems to know everyone.  That was February and I met loads of people and so decided to stay.  Then in the April I met you…”

Joseph: “I have been in Folkestone since 2018 and have done many jobs here including working for The Brewery of Angels and Demons.  A friend told me of their girlfriend’s exhibition that was on at The Tap Room so I went along.  I walked in and saw some friends, and then this flaming ball of energy in a red dress came over from the back of the room.  I was struck in awe. That was Katie.” 

our first exhibition

Katie: “In the June of 2022 we decided to do our first exhibition.  Together we fueled confidence in each other to do something we’d always wanted to do, but had never had the courage to try.  So we booked the tiny gallery in Payers Park Community Garden and had a little crab installation.  From then I wanted to take over the Grand Burstin. I’m obsessed with this building.  It’s wonderful, amazing, bold and unapologetic!  It’s one of my most favourite buildings in the world.”

Joseph: “We created Beton Collective.  Beton in both Croatian (where I’m from) and Polish, and other Eastern European languages means ‘concrete’.  In this post-Soviet world we wanted to challenge the brutalist, grey concrete image of our countries and this medium.  Concrete isn’t grim.  It’s a medium that brings together four different elements – adjustable, fundamental, strong, moldable.”

Katie: “We had connected with 25 other artists to take over the first 3 floors of the Grand Burstin Hotel.  Everything was going well towards this exhibition and then Joseph introduced me to John Woolrich.  John was working on a music project in The Grand at the time.  I was responding to his music by creating words, and he invited me to one of the recordings happening in The Grand.  It had been closed for a few years by this point and I walked in and thought ‘this is it’ this is where the exhibition has to be.”

The green room at the grand

Joseph: “I have different feelings about the Grand Burstin to Katie!  But, when she came back from The Grand so excited we looked into how we could put on the exhibition there.  It seems there was already a group of residents who had taken on the Freehold of the building and wanted something to happen there. We were invited to a meeting where people were generating lots of ideas on how to ‘regrand the Grand’.  It seemed we could be the channel for those ideas, and so suggested this.”

Katie: “In September of 2022 we became the curators of the space within The Grand.  We were mediators for the ideas that those who love The Grand were having, and making into reality with events happening in the rooms there.  Originally it was just The Green Room, but now it’s the three state rooms there.  

“Our first event was a birthday party for one of the residents.  Then we had a concert with 88 people with the Salomé Quartet, and it was then that we knew this is what we wanted to do.  It was magical.”

kollectiv

Katie: “It seems we don’t choose spaces that heat up easily!  This space here at the bottom of The Old High Street is the same!  We’re next to Folklore and The Banksy.  The truth is that the moment we saw this space, and that it was available, we couldn’t stop talking about it.  Ok, at the moment we have about half an hour spare in the week, and we’re not ones to sit around doing nothing!  But to have a space in the centre of town we can do so much more!  The Green Room is unique, and a wonderful space but there are restrictions. It’s also a very big space, so if you want to run a workshop for 5 people, it’s not practical.  Kollectiv is more versatile.”

Joseph: “We can run our classical and contemporary music events at The Grand, and then do other things here in Kollectiv.  It’s also true that we’ve built a list of world-class musicians and artists that come to Folkestone to perform and speak.  We had Sandy Powell, the 15 times Oscar-winning costume designer.   She came down with some of her creations and her talk.  What she noticed that was different here in Folkestone is that people came up to talk to her afterwards.  In London people listen and then they go away.  Folkestone is different, and this is what happens here, people talk and they collaborate and there’s this energy of people wanting knowledge and are interested.”

7 degrees of separation

Katie: “There’s a joke about the 7 degrees of separation which doesn’t apply in Folkestone because you’re probably just 2 steps away from the person you need!  If you talk and meet new people, you’ll soon find the person you need for the next project.  People don’t seem to be protective and possessive of their work but want to collaborate. 

“We’re working with the Folkestone Documentary Festival and also Open Art 2024 which is a new fringe art festival.  We’re excited about this.  Kollectiv is situated between The Old High Street and Tontine Street.  We have entrances on both streets, and therefore act as a bridge between the two.  The sorts of events that can happen here are different to the things that suit The Green Room so we can broaden what we do.  This is a space that we can do speed dating for artists!  You can meet in a laid-back atmosphere and talk about your projects and maybe make something together.”

Joseph: “There are big windows on this building that show what’s going on inside.  We’re passionate about art not being exclusive to certain people, or Art with a capital A.  But art is for everyone.  So with our events happening here, you’ll be able to see from the outside that something is happening and be welcomed in to join in with us.  Lots of new connections will be made here and we’re looking forward to seeing what they will be, and what we’ll be doing this time next year!”

Photographs by Simon Richmond, Chelsey Browne, Zoltan Tassi