Live from ICAF: ethics & community arts

On Episode 64 of A Culture of Possibility, Arlene Goldbard and François Matarasso discuss the ethical issues that arise when working with communities. 

The presentation was recorded live at a session at the International Community Arts Festival in Rotterdam earlier this Spring.

A CULTURE OF POSSIBILITY

EPISODE 64 | MAY 15 | 2026  

PARTICIPANTS

Arlene Goldbard | François Matarasso

COMMENTARY

In the second episode based on live recordings from ICAF in Rotterdam, we hear Arlene Goldbard and François Matarasso and their presentation on Community Arts and Ethics.

The episode has three parts. We begin with a short introduction in which Arlene and François set the context for the workshop. We then hear the first part of the workshop - their initial presentation - exactly as it happened. We have deliberately left in the slight imperfections and occasional background noise to preserve as far as possible the atmosphere in the hall. 

At the event this was followed by an interactive feedback session. However it was not possible to obtain permissions from all those present to use their voices. Instead Arlene and François have created a summary of the questions that people raised and the answers they provided. This freshly recorded summary forms the final part of the episode.

REFERENCES

Ethics & Participatory Arts, a 2021 pamphlet by Arlene Goldbard and François Matarasso https://content.gulbenkian.pt/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/05120439/2021_AC_Ethics-and-Participatory-Art.pdf

ICAF Rotterdam https://icafrotterdam.com/

François: A Restless Art https://arestlessart.com/

François: A Selfless Art https://aselflessart.com/

Arlene on Wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlene_Goldbard

Arlene’s website  https://arlenegoldbard.com/about-2/