When I was a young and earnest community artist, I bridled at the word fun. The art we made wasn’t supposed to be fun, even when it did involve face painting. It was radical, world changing and very, very serious. I was so much older then, but I’ve since learned that you can have fun with serious intent – in fact, if you’re not having fun, what really is the point?
Fun Palaces is a wonderful campaign that sets out to encourage and empower people to share their creativity together, to learn, to give, to build, to think and debate, to discover and always, always to have fun. Just six years old, it’s established itself as a real force in hundreds of communities, largely thanks to the work of committed people doing things they believe in. Bits of public money have helped, but it would be happening anyway because people care and want to work together. I’ve written about Fun Palaces, but don’t bother with that now. Have a look at this little film instead and see what makes this campaign for cultural democracy special.
And then follow this link to find a Fun Palace you could go to this weekend.
Find a Fun Palace on 5 and 6 October 2019
François Matarasso 