Case studies

Fun Palaces at the Lido
Helen Murray – Fun Palaces Day 2

Published case studies

Follow the drop down menu to read online, or click on the links below to download the case studies as printable PDF files

  1. Festival de Música de Setúbal • English • Português
  2. Welfare State International • English • Português
  3. ‘Bed’, Entelechy Arts • English • Português
  4. We’re here because we’re here • English • Português
  5. Movimento de Expressão Fotográfica • English • Português
  6. The Portland Inn Project • English • Português
  7. ‘Men and Girls Dance’, Fevered Sleep • English • Português
  8. Fun Palaces • English

A series of case studies of participatory and community art is being published here. Each one is a long essay, between 1500 and 3500 words long, that is both an account of a project and a reflection on some of the ideas that it raises for me. The work has been chosen because I think it is, in one way or another, an example of good practice. I believe there’s more to learn from projects that succeed in their own terms, even if terms those aren’t always mine. I also think I write better about work I like or respect.

Because A Restless Art has been supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, most of the case studies come from Britain and Portugal, where the foundation works, but there are also a few from other parts of Europe. The book, due to be published in the autumn, will include many more, but in much briefer accounts. This website allows space for a more discursive, and more generously illustrated, approach.

Some case have appeared here before, in earlier versions; those will be replaced by the new ones, Each one will be published in English and Portuguese (thanks to the excellent collaboration of Isabel Lucena), and they can be downloaded as PDF documents, for reading online or printing. All the work is published under a Creative Commons licence, which allows the re-distribution of the work for non-commercial purposes so long as it is not changed and it is attributed to the creators. The first two case studies to be published are liste below, with their publication dates. More will be added each month.