People United’s collaboration with Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN) began with the launch of our award winning Futures of Care  programme in 2021. We met with  KRAN’s young refugees and asylum seekers to co-create a Manifesto of Care, which was distributed to young people across East Kent. We then worked together in 2022 on  their powerful artwork, Sea of the Unseeable, the intention was to connect across perceived language and cultural barriers and spark a dialogue with the wider community, redefining East Kent as a place of welcome.

From this partnership we have now established a creative hub, the Co-Design Studio. Our four Studio Producers have lived experience of the asylum-seeking process as former KRAN service-users and are now employed at their Folkestone and Canterbury hubs. 

In January 2024, the Co-Design Studio opened with a residency weekend for the Studio Producers. They met five artists engaging in community work and public art and began to form their priorities for the work ahead. This May, their first installation will be launched in Folkestone.

What are we aiming for? 

We are aiming to make a positive attitude towards our judgment and have an equal perspective for each other. Wise words and wisdom, inspiration from one another, selfless belief in communities.

What do we want people to feel like when they see our projects?

We want people to ‘See, See, and See’, and feel inspired, loved understood. Truly brighter futures, fun, laughter and joy.

Who are we? 

We are a Youth Forum, Charity and Community from all areas of Kent trying to bring things together for good sake, change the narrative and put positive impact on young people. We have the power to do this by working collectively and collaborating with artists from all over with our Co-design Studio.

Grmalem Kasa, Studio Producer

Studio Producers

A collage of the four studio producers with their names, Ibrahim, Grmalem Kasa, Mata, and Basera Adel.
Co-Design Studio Producers

Ibrahim

Ibrahim cares about humanity, believes in equality and thinks that art is amazing. He is based in Folkestone and in the future wants to be a billionaire. In the mean time, he wants to encourage other people to work hard and to believe in themselves.

 Grmalem Kasa

Grmalem considers art to be a language everyone can speak. He is from Eritrea and now lives in Kent. He has experience in care leavers and refugee immigration systems and he believes in humanity and equality. Grmalem cares about vulnerable people and wants to encourage others to build connections and confidence.

Mata

Mata thinks that art should be important to everyone because it can communicate more than words alone. He is from Eritrea and is based in Folkestone, and loves listening to music, watching movies and doing sports. Mata believes strongly in human rights and equality, and wants to use his skills in listening and understanding people to help the wider community, especially young people.

Basera

Basera believes in women’s rights and thinks that art is beautiful. She is based in Canterbury, though she comes from Afghanistan. She wants to study medicine, has experience in dressmaking, and when she is not making art she is likely bowling or watching movies.

Studio producer Mata and creative producer Josie sit on the floor across from each other, both writing out on opposite sides of a big piece of paper.
Co-Design Studio Residency Weekend

Residency Weekend

As part of their residency weekend, the Studio Producers worked with artist Louella Ward to explore how the juxtaposition of words and images can add layers of meaning to artworks. Adding excerpts of found text and meaningful messages and slogans to images of East Kent town- and sea-scapes, they explored what it would mean to bring their personal worldviews into contact with public space. This exercise both ignited an interest in the collaborative nature of collage, and strengthened the studio’s commitment to producing art that carries messages of hope and positivity, which remains one of the Studio Producers’ top priorities for their work in the public realm.

Read more about the artists we worked with at the January residency weekend here.

A collage including the words:
A collage including the words: I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. Don't wait for the right opportunity, create it.
A collage including the words:
A collage including the words:
A collage including the words:
A collage including the words:
A collage including the words:
A collage including the words:
A collage including the words: Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions. To realise that every person is living their own unique life.
A collage including the words:

Billboard Comission

The billboard in Payers Park will be the first public art installation from the Co-Design Studio. Ibrahim, Grmalem, Mata, and Basera commissioned Catherine Chinatree to produce a piece that would be meaningful, welcoming, and would spark questions, speaking to the experience of arriving in the UK as a refugee or asylum seeker. Images contributed by other young people from KRAN will be incorporated into the final design.

Catherine Chinatree is a Margate based multidisciplinary visual artist, who is interested in the representational idea of shared “reality” with a focus on identity, dualism, and cultural fluidity. The work is supported by research in Anthropology, social surrealism and human behaviour. Being of Welsh, Caribbean and Irish descent, she is deeply rooted in hybrid culture and seeks inspiration from the outside world of everyday life, our daily activities, symbolism, rituals, and the people she meets. Her practice is both studio and outdoor-based.

I am honoured to have been approached by producers to work on a project that centres around their lived experiences. It is urgent to deliver the artist’s brief as close to the expressed feelings and ideas as possible, as these experiences are happening in real-time. This makes the work feel more authentic as it is a response and collaboration where honesty and clear communication are key. Working on this project has been a true honour for me.

Catherine Chinatree

Catherine and Grmalem discuss plans for the billboard over a table of sticky notes withinin a colourful art studio.
Studio Producer Grmalem and Artist Catherine Chinatree

The billboard will be on display from May 21st in Payers Park, Folkestone.

We will be sharing more details about the next installation soon!

Thanks to our partners at KRAN and to our funders including Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Roger De Haan Charitable Trust, Arts Council England, Calouste Gulbenkian and Canterbury County Council.

Group 930