François Matarasso

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  • Failing to write about uncertainty

    A Restless Art was written from a place of relative confidence, although that confidence ebbed during the four years it took me to write. I set out complacently thinking I had knowledge to share but, as I met more people working in community art, I saw how much I had to learn. In the end, that…

  • Reading optimism

    A Restless Art has been available as a free PDF, as well as in print, since January 2019, for reasons explained on the download page. A couple of days ago I noticed that there’d been about 20 downloads on a single day. That surprised me, so I checked back and worked out that there have…

  • A Selfless Age? From ‘Winter Fires’ to ‘1001 Stories’

    Gwen Sewell and Rosie Wheatland, iPad painting by Mik Godley from Winter Fires (2012) I think about unravelling it, but I don’t, I change my mind.  I think about taking stock of my life, but I don’t, I change my mind.  I think about thinking about it, but I don’t.  I keep on wearing it…

  • What is a ‘selfless’ art?

    To be honest, I don’t yet know. For now, it’s a signpost, pointing in the direction that seems most promising. Whether it becomes a book, something else or perhaps a dead end will become clear only with time, but a title is important because it defines the possibilities and constraints of what I’m doing. Past titles…

  • ‘HerStory’ – A co-created opera for World Parkinson’s Day

    In May 2021, as part of our research into opera co-creation, I arranged a meeting between some of the Traction artists and HerStory, an opera project with people living with Parkinson’s disease. We met the composer, Amy Mallet, and project director, Nicola Wydenbach, and shared a fascinating conversation about their experience of developing the project, before…

  • The power of attention

    When Elon Musk bought Twitter, in October last year, I deleted my account. I’m wary of social media, which feeds human frailties to gain power and can cause grave harm. My first line of defence in the attention economy is not to pay attention. Choosing which ideas and people I invite into my mind makes…