Where Do You Go? with Cimeon Ellerton-Kay
The arts venue founder tells us about his favourite London spots
Every now and again we like to ask people for their personal take on London. We get them to tell us the places in the city that they turn to for different reasons: the spots that excite them, inspire them, make them feel calm, happy or just make them want to spend money. We call it ‘Where do you go?’.
For March’s edition of WDYG? we spoke to Cimeon Ellerton-Kay, the man behind Canning Town cocktail bar and cultural hotspot, Social Convention. Cimeon tells us about the value of real-world creative spaces, orchestral meditation and meandering conversations on the winding banks of the Thames.
Who are you?
I’m Cimeon Ellerton-Kay, I’m the founder of Social Convention - a cocktail bar and event space investing profits into artist support. I’m also a musician, nerd and Londonphile.
Why should we trust you?
I would suggest trusting me on the basis that I’m very honest - maybe it’s the musical training (I studied at Trinity College of Music) where you take a daily grilling from peers and professors based on their subjective opinion on how music should be.
I love both the arts and science and take an enlightenment approach to the world, bringing a healthy dose of scepticism along with my reasoned opinions. I’ve also spent 22 years living in South, East and North London - moving north of the river was heresy to some friends!
Tell us about the genesis of Social Convention. Where did the idea come from and what makes you more than ‘just another bar’?
It's been a lifelong dream of mine to run an arts venue (it was my graphic design GCSE final project when I was 16) and I’ve always been interested in all sorts of art and music - from the highest of the highbrow traditional culture, to the newest and most experimental academic or underground art and music scenes, as well as the cheesiest pop culture. A typical Friday night might see me start at a concert on the Southbank and end at a rave in Tottenham via a cocktail bar along the way.
In 2017/18 I was lucky enough to be doing some work in Montreal and visited SAT (Société des Arts Technologiques) where I was blown away by a space that was part nightclub, part culture centre and part artist studios - plus a bloody brilliant bar and restaurant.
When the pandemic hit, you didn’t need a degree in business to work out that there would be a lot of disruption. But I knew it would create a space and an opportunity for change - there would be a need to do things differently. So, I quit my job as a management consultant in the arts to focus on Social Convention. You could say that it was a case of putting my money where my mouth was.
Social Convention is more than just another bar because it is also a creative community. Yes, we have a bloody good bar for anyone to hang out and have fun, but we also have affordable event and development space for artists with regular performances and exhibitions for the public. We provide a community of creatives with the space to share skills and opportunities. We also just throw really good parties.
There seems to be a bit of return to the idea of the physical meeting space for artists and creatives right now? Is that something you’re trying to create?
Yes, absolutely. In our development and planning work during lockdown we tested lots of digital approaches to networking, community building and skills sharing - but the return on the effort put in is really disappointing. One of my mantras is ‘reduce the amount of work people have to do to engage with you’ but online networking or private social channels just feels like more life admin for most people.
There IS a role for digital, but we’re working that out as we go as a society and as the technology improves. We plan to stream as many of our events online as possible and we’re working on hybrid events and networking solutions but presence is everything and so for now, full presence only really comes from physical proximity.
How tough was it getting through the ‘Covid years’, and how are you doing now?
We had been developing our network of creative collaborators and running fun events in other people’s venues, but we didn’t go full time until after the pandemic hit.
It was really tough, but I’m an opportunist, have a lot of experience helping artists/organisation get to grips with digital technology and can write a bloody good funding application - so we used those skills to get through and the time to really interrogate our ideas about what Social Convention would be as a physical space.
Without huge public investment or personal savings, we had to imagine what the leanest version of SAT Montreal would look like in London.
What are your plans for Social Convention for 2023 and how optimistic are you about the future for independent arts and music venues in London?
Despite all the challenges (economic, political and just general uncertainty), the great thing about independent venues is their adaptability and perseverance. A lot of this comes down to individuals working all hours for very little pay - and that needs to change because it is a barrier to diversity and creativity. But we’re trying to demonstrate our belief that there is a hybrid model where you don’t have to be reliant on public funding and yet you can be brave with the programming and support of artists and all creatives.
For us this means making the hospitality business in the venue the best it can be, so that people love being there and spending money whether or not they see any art or events. This is what allows us to lower the barriers for artists to access space, skills and technology to make cutting edge new work. The value that independent venues bring to areas needs to be better recognised and protected. Developers should be desperate to have them and make better quality commercial units to house small arts spaces (not just studios), and local councils should use their statutory powers to help independent venues. For example, Section 106 agreements should ensure investment in and protection of new and existing cultural spaces (including hospitality). I think the 15-minute-city/livable cities movement reinforces this idea too.
Okay, on to the usual questions… Where do you go to have a great time?
I used to go to events at The Cause to let off some steam, but since they closed with the final phase of new development in Tottenham, they’ve been doing great parties near us in the Royal Docks.
Printworks always has an amazing line up too, or for somewhere more intimate and underground there’s AAJA in Deptford with amazing up-and-coming DJs and promoters.
Where do you go and always end up spending too much money?
Ha! Almost any night out.
Where do you go to be alone?
I love to go for a steam at one of the Spa Experience or Everyone Spa locations - they’re all pretty good. I find it really clears my head and my pores.
Alternatively, an orchestral concert is the closest I get to meditation - all I’m thinking about is the music. My favourite orchestra is the LSO (plus I love the Barbican architecture). I love going to concerts on my own.
Where do you go when you can afford it?
Perilla in Green Lanes/Newington Green (above). It’s such an amazing restaurant and isn’t crazy expensive for a tasting menu. It’s also within walking distance of my house, which is great for a little stroll after having the wine pairings.
Where do you go to be romantic?
A walk along the Thames River Path with my husband, stopping at the occasional pub, is just one of the best things about London and super romantic on a warm day and the sun starts to set. It reminds me of everything l love about London and gives loads of time to reconnect in long meandering conversations as we wander along the meandering Thames.
Where do you go if you want to switch off?
I find the cinema is a great way to actually put my phone away and stop checking emails, researching things to do or planning my next purchase/holiday. My local Picturehouse has terrible internet and even worse phone reception - which is great because I’m totally unreachable!
Where do you go to get inspired?
I love to go to an art gallery - I specifically love walking down to the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in Islington (above) where there are perfectly sized exhibitions that often combine fine art and design in a way that doesn’t seem to happen enough in UK galleries IMHO.
Where do you go to think?
Anywhere with water. Maybe it’s from growing up by the sea, but I just need to be near water or it doesn’t feel right. London has so many amazing ponds, reservoirs, docks and of course the river. Any of them will do.
Walking around my second home in the Royal Docks is especially lovely because there aren’t many urban places with such big expenses of water and open skies.
Follow Social Convention on Instagram and Twitter
5 little bits
EuroNews has an article on the ‘managed decline’ effecting traditional street markets across central London, such as East Street Market, Ridley Road, Queen’s in Newham and Tower Hamlets Chrisp Street Market.
Meanwhile Vice has an excellent piece on how developers are threatening ‘warehouse living’, one of the “final bastions of alternative living in London”.
The National Portrait Gallery had until last Friday to raise the £50m needed to keep Joshua Reynolds’s painting Portrait of Omai in the UK, but they only succeeded in raising about half that. The latest murmurs are that the NPG is in “secret talks with the Getty Museum in California to jointly acquire the painting”.
The Twentieth Century Society has released its list of the “10 heritage buildings most at risk from demolition, redevelopment or neglect in 2023” and it includes The Museum of London (as was), the Channel 4 headquarters and Jagonari Women’s Educational Resource Centre in Whitechapel.
Eddie Izzard’s one-woman version of Great Expectations will play at the Garrick Theatre for a limited six week season, beginning on 24 May.