Last month, ICAF travelled to Portugal to take part in a dialogue on participatory and community art practices. As part of the Portuguese Capital of Culture 2025 we spent two days at the Academy of the Desejar festival to question and reinvent the relationships between those who create and those who engage with artistic practices.
For us at ICAF, it was a great privilege to be given the time and space to reflect on questions that lie at the heart of our work. What common values drive community art practices across different contexts? How can we truly root artistic practices in the community, in a physical place, in public policy? Asking these questions during a festival built around the theme of ‘desire’ made us reimagine how to cross the divide from one place, person or practice to another.
A big thank you to our long-time friend Hugo Cruz for inviting ICAF to join the conversation. And just as big a hello to a future of artistic encounters that do not separate life and art.
