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A Restless Art

A Restless Art

How participation won, and why it matters

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    • Acknowledgements
    • Photography credits
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    • A Restless Art in 10 minutes
  • Case studies
    • Fun Palaces
    • The Portland Inn Project
      • O Portland Inn Projeto – Um caso de estudo de arte participativa
    • ‘Men & Girls Dance’, Fevered Sleep
      • ‘Men & Girls Dance’, Um caso de estudo de arte participativa
    • Movimento de Expressão Fotográfica
      • Movimento de Expressão Fotográfica – Um caso de estudo de arte participativa
    • ‘We’re here because we’re here’
      • ‘We’re here because we’re here’ – Um caso de estudo de arte participativa
    • ‘Bed’, Entelechy Arts
      • ‘Bed’, Entelechy Arts – Um caso de estudo de arte participativa
    • Welfare State International
      • Welfare State International – Um caso de estudo de arte participativa
    • Festival de Música de Setúbal
      • Festival de Música de Setúbal – um caso de estudo de arte participativa
  • Projects
    • ‘L’Ego do Meu Bairro’ Olho.te
    • Project links
    • The Cabbage Field Opera (Lithuania)
    • Valleys Kids (Wales)
    • ‘I am the Museum’ (Bosnia Herzegovina)
    • El Colegio del Cuerpo (Colombia)
    • Multistory (UK)
    • Restoke (UK)
    • Streetwise Opera
    • Toinen Koti (Finnish National Theatre)
    • Dotrščina Virtual Museum (Croatia)
    • Geração SOMA, Vo’Arte (Portugal)
    • A Bao A Qu (Spain)
    • The Lawnmowers Independent Theatre Company (UK)
    • Banlieues Bleues (France)
    • Mahatat for contemporary art (Egypt)
  • Resources
    • Community art in Britain
    • Community art in Ireland
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    • Community art in the Netherlands
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    • Reports and research
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      • Reflexive practice
      • Online journals
    • Community and participatory art beyond Europe
  • About
    • François Matarasso
    • Contact me
July 28, 2022 Case studies / Cultural democracy / Democratisation of culture / Egypt / Film / Music / Photography / social change / Third generation / Visual art

There is always an alternative. Always.

On Tuesday, I facilitated a talk for the Scottish Culture Collective by my friend Heba El Cheikh. She spoke about her work as a

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July 19, 2022 Education / First Generation / Reflexive practice / Skills

Can you teach community art?

TL;DR? No. In the 1980s, when the first generation of community artists had been around for long enough to feel

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June 23, 2022 Art in criminal justice / Opera / Portugal

‘Write this down’

It was the end of a long day. We’d run out of time and the guards needed to get us

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March 9, 2016 Guest contributions / Theatre

Why Joan Littlewood Matters – possibly more now than ever

A guest post by Stella Duffy, theatre maker, novelist and Fun Palaces champion Joan was a working class actor and

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March 2, 2016 A Restless Art

It’s alright not to know

Yesterday I talked with students taking a community art module at the University of Utrecht. They were an unusually diverse

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February 26, 2016 Where do you stand?

Where do you stand?

Would you prefer to spend the next six months working on a project that would be artistically fulfilling but little

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February 21, 2016 Ideas / Quotes

‘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

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February 5, 2016 Circus / Music / Portugal

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

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January 22, 2016 A Restless Art / Germany

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

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January 13, 2016 A Restless Art / Ideas

Artisting

We have many verbs for the craft actions performed by artists: drawing, writing, playing, acting, dancing, painting, singing and so

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January 6, 2016 Ethics / Ideas

What is the point?

Community artists are often accused of instrumentalising art. We can be said to instrumentalise something when we use it to

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January 4, 2016 A Restless Art

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.

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December 28, 2015 Ideas

Coming together: midwinter thoughts about community

On 24 December 2015, the Beatles allowed their music to be streamed online for the first time. The most frequently

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Latest posts

  • There is always an alternative. Always.
  • Can you teach community art?
  • ‘Write this down’
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