A Selfless Art

The talks I gave this month have helped me see a way forward out of the marsh in which I have floundered for several years. I had not spoken in public for more than two years, partly because no one asked, but also because I told the few who did that I had nothing useful to say. Now, I find that I do have things to say and, in these dark times, they might indeed be useful.

My first talk relied heavily on the thinking I developed during the Traction project, and which is still unfinished and unshared. I added some underdeveloped ideas about resistance and the result was, to my mind, unsatisfactory but promising. The second talk, a couple of weeks later, was better, bringing some new ideas about recovery that came to me during a period of illness and silence.

Addressed to members of the National Arts in Hospitals Network, that talk was also more personal. It was a deliberate change, evident in my writing here, but it has taken time to find how to be honest and direct without slipping into self-indulgence. There’s a way to go, but I feel I’m making progress.

Both talks were well received, which is personally gratifying but more importantly it showed me that there is a hunger for new ideas and encouragement in people practising co-creation. Community work is still vital, in itself and in overcoming the divisions between us.

Being among people dedicated to that work was equally encouraging to me. I realised how much I have missed the everyday contact with others who share my hopes and values. In both conferences, I was struck by how much people smiled at each other: the times are frightening, but there is courage and joy to meet them.

I still see profound ethical, political and practical obstacles to achieving social justice through co-creation, but these experiences have reminded me that doing what we can is enough—if we do it. Compromise is unavoidable in an imperfect world, and never more than when we work with others. We will not change the world except by working for a better one, so we had better keep at it.