Nicholas Hytner’s ambition to save arts and culture is "tiresomely familiar and predictable", says François Matarasso, perpetuating an us-and-them mentality.
One starting point for A Selfless Art is my recognition of how much participatory art and co-creation practice now imagines the world as being divided between us and them. Us, the people who know, who understand, who plan, those who organise, do, create and lead, whose work is important, valuable and, naturally, always for the greater good. Them, the people who don’t know or understand, those who struggle and need help, who benefit from how things are organised, whose choices and actions are to be judged, whose work is valued only for the effort they demonstrate, those of whom there are few expectations (though sometimes considerable fears).
On one side, those who make decisions: on the other, those whose lives are affected by those decisions. Here, those who set the type and extent of public services; there, those who depend on those services daily. Artists involved in co-creation live in the borderlands between Us and Them. They understand both sides (more or less) and they can speak both languages. Where they really belong is a question each one knows the answer to. And I know that I’ve found myself on the wrong side—the side I stand against—too many times, hence A Selfless Art...Keep reading on A Selfless Art.
One starting point for A Selfless Art is my recognition of how much participatory art and co-creation practice now imagines the world as being divided between us and them. Us, the people who know, who understand, who plan, those who organise, do, create and lead, whose work is important, valuable and, naturally, always for the greater good. Them, the people who don’t know or understand, those who struggle and need help, who benefit from how things are organised, whose choices and actions are to be judged, whose work is valued only for the effort they demonstrate, those of whom there are few expectations (though sometimes considerable fears).
On one side, those who make decisions: on the other, those whose lives are affected by those decisions. Here, those who set the type and extent of public services; there, those who depend on those services daily. Artists involved in co-creation live in the borderlands between Us and Them. They understand both sides (more or less) and they can speak both languages. Where they really belong is a question each one knows the answer to. And I know that I’ve found myself on the wrong side—the side I stand against—too many times, hence A Selfless Art...Keep reading on A Selfless Art.