François Matarasso

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  • Hope is a choice

    The sun is shining on frosty grass, stillness everywhere this morning. It’s the start of a new year – for human beings, at least – and I’m grateful for this beauty. January is for new beginnings and never have I felt more in need of one. My internal and external worlds have been close to…

  • The power of the powerless

    Freedom is not doing the things that you are inclined to do. It is reflecting upon what you ought to do, as your unrepeatable self, and just occasionally taking a risk and doing that thing. from ‘The Power of the Powerless’, Václav Havel (1985) The example of Denmark and Bulgaria [in WW2] shows that unanimous…

  • Naked emperors

    This post will be the last for a while as I’ve stopped work for cancer treatment, and even reposting texts is more demanding than necessary. So here’s an old post about the dangers of self-importance. What we do in the arts only matters if and because it helps us live better, kinder, richer lives. It…

  • The ‘intrinsic’ value of art

    25 April 2013 Four weeks ago, the Louvre Museum presented the largest overview of German painting ever seen in France. De l’Allemagne, 1800-1939 De Friedrich à Beckmann brings together 200 works, most of them not seen in France before. The exhibition was conceived to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Traité de L’Elysée, which is a key symbol of…

  • Some thoughts on monitoring, evaluating and researching culture

    12 February 2017 Last week, I participated in a round table discussion organised by the Cultural Value Scoping Project at Tate Modern. The initiative is a collaboration between the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Arts Council England and King’s College London and King’s College London. It aims to explore how research, evaluation, evidence-building and analysis into cultural…

  • Art’s liberating deniability

    June 2013 The puppet must be one of humanity’s oldest and most joyful inventions. The youngest child is delighted by the pretence that a hand or a sock or a doll is a separate being. She can find character in three marks, projecting her humanity onto every available screen. He can believe in the autonomy of…