Cultural democracy and the European Parliament
Today, I got to speak at the European Parliament, at a conference organised by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists &
Category: First Generation
One for the historians
In my view community arts must still be regarded as an experiment—an experiment in ‘cultural democracy’ of great importance not
Relieved of duty
Today, I turn sixty. Such anniversaries are foreseeable, and this one’s long presence on my personal horizon was a reason
(Other people) thinking about cultural democracy
This is a quick post to let people know that Alison Jeffers’ and Gerri Moriarty’s book about the first 20
Restless Research: Confessions of a Confused Community Art Scholar
If you’ve read some of the material published on this site, I hope you’ll understand why I describe participatory
Why are there so few books about community art?
There are very few books about community art in Britain, despite its 50 year history. The key texts are: 1978, Artists
What cultural democracy meant in 1976
In 1976, the Council of Europe organised a conference of European ministers with responsibility for cultural affairs in Oslo ‘to
‘We want to be remembered.’
‘Sometimes you’ve got to take risks for the unknown. You don’t know what you are going into but you’ve got
‘Brave people with big eyes’
The end of Welfare State Ulverston is a country town a mile or two from Morecambe Bay, in North West
Understanding the resilience of community art
Working in community art often feels precarious, certainly in comparison to more institutionalised areas of the arts sector. Funding tends
A Restless Art 