PHOTOGRAPHY Étienne-Jacques Bolger
Hannah Makonnen first started PLACE with a simple assertion: there’s more to London than nightlife. Two years on, the platform has evolved from a space to discover community-led events into an independent ticketing platform in its own right. Looking to the platform’s second birthday celebrations hosted this past weekend, it’s safe to say PLACE now has ample evidence of that idea in action.
On Saturday, the event-discovery platform hosted its birthday celebrations at Galleria Objets on Brick Lane, boasting a packed line-up that included an art lesson, a chess club tournament and an open mic jam session, each hosted by some of London’s leading creative collectives. More than simply a series of seminars, the event showcased the sheer breadth of community collectives running across the British capital, and despite their variety, there’s an ethos shared among them all: the conviction that culture belongs to the people who create it.
“For our users, we found that they don’t necessarily like doing one thing; they don’t go to a book club and only read, or join a chess club and only play chess,” says Makonnen. “We all want to be able to explore multitudes of ourselves and discover various passions. Being able to dip into those different parts of yourself is why we’ve varied the events taking place today.”
When it came to curating the events schedule, the PLACE team turned to their strongest supporters. “These are the communities that have believed in us from the beginning, when we came to them with a pilot product, and it was just me calling everyone up and asking them to join,” she shares. “They joined the platform, and they’ve been on this journey with us. We’ve grown together, so it was a no-brainer when it came to picking the line-up.”
Powered by Salomon Sportstyle, the day also marked a new phase for PLACE as the platform scales its community through in-person activations. Makonnen admits she can be “a little neurotic” when it comes to managing the platform, and had noticed when a Salomon team member followed PLACE on social media. True to her community-minded nature, she took the opportunity to reach out: “They have their finger on the pulse when it comes to what’s really happening in culture, so the conversations grew naturally.”
PLACE and Salomon first linked up to support the launch of the platform’s ‘2.0’ redesign last November. For the birthday celebrations, Salomon’s mission with the XT-Whisper shared a natural alignment with their ethos: to support the people shaping new futures. In practice, that support means redirecting attention and resources towards emerging collectives, giving them the tools, audiences and autonomy to build culture outside the grip of institutional gatekeepers. “It was important for us that today’s event is free, as our first in-person event that’s open to the public,” Makonnen explains. “Partnering with Salomon means investing in us so we can invest in the community and in third spaces.”
It was important for us that today’s event is free, as our first in-person event that’s open to the public. Partnering with Salomon means investing in us so we can invest in the community and in third spaces.
Hannah Makonnen, PLACE founder
For her, the platform’s recognition and growth speak to a shift in culture from both organisers and attendees. “One of the most unique parts of PLACE, and the reason why I think the platform has taken off, is that there’s a power shift,” Hannah explains. “We’re no longer having to wait for a ‘yes’ from an institution; we’re creating those spaces ourselves. We’re running events, we’re publishing magazines, we’re building ticketing platforms ourselves, so that we can represent ourselves and we can create those spaces ourselves.”
And that they have. Studio Sessions opened proceedings with a batik dyeing workshop using Salomon Sportstyle T-shirts as the canvas, fabric dyes echoing the XT-Whisper colourways – bright red, sky blue, and sleek charcoal – and taking inspiration from the shoe’s fluid wave motif. The focus, however, remained firmly on participation over product. “Our motto is to disconnect to reconnect; to disconnect from London and how loud it is, and to reconnect to your neighbour and creativity,” says Studio Sessions co-founder Iman.
“It’s really good to connect people through rediscovering art,” Tyla adds. “A lot of people always say to us that they haven’t done [an art workshop] since they were at school.”
Attendees worked side by side, using their designs as a way to introduce themselves. “Everyone reconnecting in that way, with the art and with the shared understanding that they have each other, through a medium they are revisiting, it’s such an authentic way for people to connect.” The collective also hosts art-themed icebreakers for creative networking, where attendees draw one another as an introduction. “It encourages them to engage with someone different, because a lot of people come to our events solo,” says Iman. Their aim is for guests to leave having made new friends while connecting through learning a new artistic skill. Additionally, they hope the workshops serve as a reminder that you don’t always have to be especially talented at a particular art practice to benefit from doing it.
“Creativity comes in all different shapes and forms, and I hope attendees can realise that and connect with whatever form of creativity they might have, even if it’s a creative way of thinking,” Iman explains. “It doesn’t always have to be drawing skills or something like that, but just to tap into their creativity in a way that is best for them.”
Creativity comes in all different shapes and forms, and I hope attendees can realise that and connect with whatever form of creativity they might have, even if it’s a creative way of thinking.
Iman, Studio Sessions co-founder
The tempo shifted as the afternoon gave way to a guided listening session led by David Sonubi, founder of Better Listening, who curated what he described as the greatest love songs of all time. “According to me,” he adds quickly with a smile. “I feel like for a lot of people, ‘greatest love songs’ might be quite divisive, so I had to add that little disclaimer.”
Sat together on rugs and floor cushions, heads gently swaying to the sounds, the session heard Sonubi play tracks spanning R’n’B, reggae, and soul, before passing the aux to the audience. “Even though some of the songs I’d heard before, I was listening to them again with a different air, because now I’m listening through that person’s lens,” he explains. This is the power of collective listening for Sonubi: being able to rediscover sound and expand taste through another listener’s enjoyment. “It’s like how clubbing works; everyone’s in the same energy in the club, and you might not ever hear that song again, but because you heard it while everyone’s dancing and having a good time, you absorb that energy.”
By late afternoon, the atmosphere had grown louder and more kinetic. Knight Club’s tournament drew a lively crowd that clustered around boards, while Ludi, courtesy of Home Radio, and domino games layered the room with easy conversation. Food from Garden of Afruika, the African-Caribbean plant-based kitchen, circulated through the gallery’s courtyard, adding warmth and comfort to the gathering.
Yusuf Ntahilaja, founder of the club, began playing chess in high school, fell out of the game, and returned to it in his 20s, seeking a new social environment and fellow gamers to play with. “Chess as a medium can bring people together, connecting people from different walks of life. When combined with socialising and music, it creates a space that is something people are missing from their lives,” he explains.
Chess as a medium can bring people together, connecting people from different walks of life. When combined with socialising and music, it creates a space that is something people are missing from their lives.
Yusuf Ntahilaja, Knight Club founder
Music plays an integral role in setting this ambience; forget whatever stuffy misconception a chess club might bring to your mind, as Ntahilaja (who is himself a DJ) has transformed the traditional atmosphere, with a stellar DJ set from Othello, remixing pop classics with high-tempo beats to break down barriers. “I think when people think of chess and music, they may think of ambient music, but we try to flip that with tracks that are high-tempo,” he explains. “What’s really cool is that, when you walk in, it’s high energy. If you aren’t playing chess, you can bop around and dance, but there are also people locked in playing tournaments.”
Later in the evening, Makonnen moderated a panel with Harry Brown from Walk This Way, Farouk Alao from 858 Art Club, Flora Scott from Five Fold and Georgia Ofiaeli from G’s Selections, exploring how collectives are reshaping cultural power in London, and what it means to build together rather than alone.
For Brown, the answer begins with infrastructure. “I think there’s a lack of support, structurally, for communities like us,” he explains. “By coming together in a way that you would like a trade union, you have more collective power, and there’s a lot of strength in solidarity.” The analogy felt deliberate. In an events and nightlife landscape where funding is precarious and institutional backing uneven, collective organisation becomes essential for long-term survival.
Farouk shared a similar perspective, arguing that collectives represent the next phase of the creative landscape. “I think collectives are the future of London,” he says. “I think there’s something that happens when you build a community and you bring people together who are like-minded. There’s a lot more motion that could come from that than something that’s more dispersed, or people trying to figure it out and build their own thing. I think what PLACE is enabling through their platform is only going to make London better.”
I think collectives are the future of London… what PLACE is enabling through their platform is only going to make London better.
Farouk Alao, 858 Art Club founder
Finally, the evening closed with an open mic session and live jam led by Töpia’s Homies, the London-based house band and creative collective specialising in live, improvised Lo-fi jazz, soul, R&B, and funk. By this point, the room was packed, with people dancing, singing along and jumping between the stage and the crowd; an enthusiastic, high-energy finish that the crowd embraced together.
The energy in the room made the day’s argument clear. What unfolded wasn’t simply a birthday celebration, but a working example of what PLACE enables: a platform where London’s grassroots collectives can gather audiences, share their ideas and build communities on their own terms.
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