Building Capabilities: Rethinking the social value of culture
Today will see the third performance of O Tempo (Somos Nós) , “Time (It’s Us), this time at the Gulbenkian
Category: Thinking
‘From little things, big things grow’
Between the Traction opera performances in the prison last week, and those that will take place in Lisbon at the
The meaning of risk in community art
Three days ago, anticipating the first performance of the Leiria prison opera, I wrote that I didn’t expect to see
Old Words #4, ‘The Art of Uncertainty’ (2010)
This month’s Old Words are unusual, since they don’t get around to the arts until the last quester of the
What matters
“And then this: do not depend on the hope of results. […] You may have to face the fact that
Friendship and the community artist
When I talk about community art practice with younger or less experienced artists, I often warn against offering friendship to
Leaving the Tower of Babel
I wander through Twitter’s alleyways like a refugee from another land. It’s vivid, disorientating, and full of drama; shouting behind
Prisoners of Love, Amateurs and Professionals (Old Words #3)
This essay is a slightly revised version of a chapter in Where We Dream, West Bromwich Operatic Society and the
If you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need
Elections simplify. The complex realities of millions of lives, events and forces are channelled into simple choices. In France that
Asking better questions
‘Why don’t you consider what the author is trying to do, instead of criticising him for not meeting your expectations?’
Parliament of Dreams 