Art and Other Futures

Ben Roberts

A podcast about the potential of art and how people, organisations and communities are using it to change the world

Episodes

  1. Apr 6

    Ben Seroussi - Artistic Director, Casa do Povo

    In this episode we'll be speaking with Benjamin Seroussi, curator and artistic director of Casa do Povo Sao Paulo. In 2012 Ben took up the directorship of a run down and all but forgotten jewish cultural centre in the heart of Sao Paulo Brazil. Through his leadership, establishing a radically inclusive and collaborative operational structure, Casa do Povo or the House of the People, has blossomed and thrived. Inhabited by a dozen different groups, movements and collectives, including support for the homeless, antifacist boxing, a choir and a newspaper, Casa do Povo is a radical evolution of the cultural institutional model. Its interdisciplinary, process-based programming and socially-engaged activities conceive art as a critical tool in an ongoing process of social transformation. In this endeavor, the audience is not a target, but rather an active participant. in addition to visiting, people can also propose activities, making the space a locale for encounters, development and experimentation: a living monument, a place where to remember is to act. Casa do Povo's programme is both diverse and inclusive encompassing a library, print studio, theatre, exhibitions, community kitchen and shared event spaces.

    44 min
  2. Tessa Giblin - Art, Research and Community

    Feb 17

    Tessa Giblin - Art, Research and Community

    In this episode we'll be speaking with Professor Tessa Giblin, Director of Talbot Rice Gallery at the University of Edinburgh. Tessa's curatorial practice engages with issues being digested as part of the national conversation, championing art and exhibitions as platforms for complex histories and debates, pushing back against polarisation.

    1h 7m

  3. 07/09/2025

    Martyn Evans - Creative Director, Landsec UK

    In this episode I'm talking with Martyn Evans, Creative Director at Landsec with responsibility for developing and delivering the company's public art and cultural engagement programmes. From the annual commissions on fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square to the Angel of the North or a Banksy appearing in Cheltenham, public art projects are the most visible and accessible manifestations of contemporary art practice in our society. They are also uniquely divisive, sometimes becoming well loved icons of communities and places, they can also be reviled stoking anger, protest or disenfranchisement. The evolving use and role of public art is equally fluid, shifting between temporary and permanent, memorial, celebration, social critique, decoration and activism. Public art also plays an important role in articulating how we define public space in an increasingly privatised world and the debates we have about our history and culture. I spoke to Martyn at Landsec's head quarters in Central London, talking about the trajectory of his career and approach to developing cultural programmes - his priorities at Landsec and how he's working to change the ways developers understand working with art.

    53 min

  4. 07/08/2025

    Francesca Anfossi - Rochester Square: art, garden, food

    In this episode I'm talking with Francesca Anfossi, artist and co-founder of Rochester Square in London. In 2016 Francesca and her partner Eric bought Rochester Square a derelict plant nursary in Camden, North London and established a dynamic Ceramics Studio and Garden dedicated to socially engaged projects and artistic collaborations. Drawing together the central elements of Francesca's creative practice. Today Rochester Square is a thriving creative community supporting artists to make new work, encompassing a kitchen garden and community resource offering open days, schools workshops, ceramics library and Pot Shop. I spoke to Francesca at Rochester Square about what drives her creative practice, building cultural communities and power of ceramics to bring people together. We talked about the challenges of taking on a protected square, the value of not having a plan and letting things grow organically. LEARN MORE https://www.rochestersquare.co.uk https://benroberts.art

    49 min
  5. Leslie Ramos: Philanthropy and Fundraising for the Arts

    04/04/2025

    Leslie Ramos: Philanthropy and Fundraising for the Arts

    In this episode I'm speaking with Art Historian and Philanthropy Advisor Leslie Ramos. Leslie's extensive experience around philanthropy, fundraising and patronage for arts organisations led her to found The Twentieth - an arts and philanthropy advisory. Alongside numerous roles working with non profits, in 2023 she published Philanthropy in the Arts: A game of give and take with Lund Humprhies.  We spoke at her home in London about the ways arts organisations of all sizes can better attract private giving and the importance of supporting grass roots culture.  LEARN MORE: https://thetwentieth.com/ https://www.lundhumphries.com/products/philanthropy-in-the-arts https://benroberts.art/

    53 min
  6. Caroline Norbury - Creative UK: Strengthening the Creative Industries

    04/04/2025

    Caroline Norbury - Creative UK: Strengthening the Creative Industries

    In this episode I'm speaking with Caroline Norbury CEO and Founder of Creative UK. Creative UK as founded in 2021 with the objective of supporting creative businesses across England by connecting them to the money, markets and networks they needed to grow. The Creative Industries are among the most successful sectors in the UK's economy contributing more than £124bn gross value in 2022 and employing more 15-29 year olds than any other sector. Despite this value and success the future of the creative industries is under threat from the dismantelling of primary and secondary arts education provision, lack of developmental funding and limited pathways to employment and experience for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Caroline joined Creative UK with a background in film and the creative industries and I spoke to her at their offices in London about their recently published manifesto laying out a framework of support for the creative industries, education and business development, her work with government and the ways culture can shape the social and economic future of the UK. LEARN MORE https://www.wearecreative.uk/

    42 min
  7. Elinor Morgan, Artistic Director Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art: Museum Communities

    03/31/2025

    Elinor Morgan, Artistic Director Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art: Museum Communities

    In this episode I'm speaking with Elinor Morgan, a writer and curator and Artistic Director at MiMA - the Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art. For more than 10 years MIMA, part of Teesside University, has been at the forefront of producing ideas and programmes  transforming the ways that museums operate and interact with their communities and publics, radically changing approaches to working with collections and mission of the museum. In 2014 under the directorship of Alistair Husdon, the institution apodted the principals of Arte Util – useful art – a conception of art and institutional operations devised by artist Tanya Brugera and curators at the Queens Museum, New York, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven and Grizedale Arts in Coniston which seeks to develop new methods and social formations to address societal issues traditionally considered the domain of the state that are part of an interconnected historical trajectory shaping the contemporary world from social justice and inequality to education and mental health. Under the leadership of Elinor Morgan and Laura Sillars the programme at MIMA has evolved a ground breaking approach to community collaboration and placing the story of the region and its people at the heart of their work; creating generative opportunities for change through art, learning, social engagement and professional development.  Prior to MIMA, Morgan curated international public art projects, residencies, exhibitions, public and learning programmes, working at OUTPOST, Wysing Art Centre, Eastside Projects as well as independent projects. Elinor joined MIMA in 2015 drawn to the organisation's reputation for placing the communities that surround it at the centre of it's programmes, thinking and mission. LEARN MORE https://mima.art/ https://valiz.nl/en/publications/constituent-museum https://benroberts.art/

    49 min
  • 7 Episodes

About

A podcast about the potential of art and how people, organisations and communities are using it to change the world

Information

  • Creator
    Ben Roberts
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    Art and Other Futures