François Matarasso

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  • ‘All true definitions of art are circular’

    Art belongs to everybody and nobody. Art belongs to all time and no time. Art belongs to those who create it and those who savour it. Art no more belongs to the People and the Party then it once belonged to the aristocracy and the patron. Art is the whisper of history, heard above the…

  • Nothing but the best

    I’ve often heard that high artistic standards are unattainable, or even unimportant in socially engaged work. Nothing could be further from the truth. Two experiences during my visit to Lisbon last week reminded me why. Chapitô is a circus theatre school established over 30 years ago by Teresa Ricou, better known as the clown, Tété.…

  • Memory, anxiety and hope in Berlin

    Past, present and future always feel specially present in Berlin. This city is at the centre of Europe’s recent history. Everywhere you look are traces of who we have been and who we might become. This week, the simple posters advertising Blackstar – ‘das neue album’ – are like small memorials for David Bowie, who renewed…

  • Artisting

    We have many verbs for the craft actions performed by artists: drawing, writing, playing, acting, dancing, painting, singing and so on. What unites and underlies all those actions is creation. The artist’s act is to create. Unfortunately, the idea of creativity has become so prized in recent years that it has been applied as an…

  • What is the point?

    Community artists are often accused of instrumentalising art. We can be said to instrumentalise something when we use it to achieve a different goal than that for which it is designed. In the arts, the argument goes like this. Art is intended to create aesthetic experiences, therefore to use it for another purpose, such as…

  • New Year wisdom from Neil Gaiman

    ‘Make good art’ Three years ago, Neil Gaiman delivered a commencement address to students at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts. These brief extracts from his speech were addressed to young graduates but they are valuable reminders too for those who’ve been creating art for years. Not feeling that you know what you’re doing doesn’t make…