François Matarasso

Blog

arestlessart.com/

Profile

arestlessart.com/author/regula

Homepage

regularmarvels.wordpress.com

  • What we have lost, and what we hold to still

    I am looking up at the third floor window of number 36 – smaller than the windows below. We know there is a window seat inside. It’s where the midwife sat, almost 18 years ago, as our daughter Hannah gave birth to Rosa May, her second child, at 6am on a clear spring morning.

  • Jakson and Fabio — Regular Marvels

    Almost exactly five years ago. I filed into the Leiria youth prison, along with about 250 other outsiders—officials, funders and, mostly, the mothers, partners and children of the inmates. We had come to see the result of an extraordinary gamble by Paulo Lameiro and his team at SAMP, the local music school, a gamble that […]…

  • Speak your truth

    It’s unusual nowadays to hear anyone in the arts speak against cultural participation. The directors of museums, galleries, orchestras and theatres – and of sector bodies such as Arts Council England – profess themselves almost universally to be advocates of cultural inclusion and co-creation. Their websites and annual reports shine with happy people being creative. There are…

  • Talking about culture, philanthropy and democracy – Part 2

    Following yesterday’s post, here is Sajida Carr‘s presentation to ADESTE+. Following on from Francois talk there have aeons of activities that have attempted to become relevant and have people at the heart of cultural activities that question the willingness to share real power and change. I’d like to share two contrasting experiences around the democratisation…

  • Talking about culture, philanthropy and democracy (ADESTE+)

    ADESTE+ is a European project dedicated to increasing cultural participation, supported by the EU’s Creative Europe funding. With 15 partners from the UK, Italy, Spain, Poland, Croatia, Portugal and Denmark, they hope to ‘encourage audience-centric cultural organizations across Europe’ through sharing knowledge and good practice. This year, their annual conference is online, in a series of weekly sessions…

  • Talking with Northern Heartlands

    In February, I spent a couple of days in County Durham, meeting artists and local people involved in the Northern Heartlands Great Places Scheme. They’d asked me to speak at an event marking the completion of three years’ work and the project’s transition into a new form. I went to learn about what people have…