Working at another scale in community opera
It is a surprise, in my sixties, to find myself working on opera, as part of the Traction project. This prestigious art
Category: Spain
‘Cabaret de la Gata’ – Traction takes off
As the pandemic recedes—or perhaps becomes normalised—it is becoming hard to recall the strangeness of those lockdown months, and the
Blinkered by my privilege
For decades, longer even, cultural policy in Europe has been imagined as a conflict between two ideas. The first is
A community of many voices
Many people know El Raval, but they know it in different ways. For tourists, it’s the lively grid of narrow
Still thinking about co-creation
In March, I posted a question on Twitter about co-creation. What do artists mean by ‘co-creation’? I’m writing about the
‘What I’ve Been Looking For’
The Musicals Choir was started by Cristina Colomer, director of the Escola de Músics in Raval, for young people experiencing
Community opera in a pandemic
In February, I participated in the kick-off meeting of TRACTION, a Horizon 2020 project researching how digital technology can support
When we were in the streets
With everything that is happening to us, I’ve rather neglected this site recently, writing elsewhere about community opera and how
Next steps for ‘A Restless Art’
The publication of A Restless Art, long-delayed, is now almost a year in the past. Time has flown, and the
‘Here we found a space to think’
When I argued – as I still do – that people benefit from participating in art, it is because of its potential for learning, emancipation and empowerment. Experience changes us. Powerful experiences, such as those that come from creating art with other people, can change us deeply. But that change is something we do for ourselves: it is not done to us
A Restless Art 