Culture is Ordinary: Raymond Williams and Participatory Arts

"Culture is ordinary: that is the first fact." Raymond Williams wrote these words in 1958, and they continue to resonate through everything I do.

Against Cultural Hierarchy

Williams challenged the idea that culture belongs to an educated elite, that it is something separate from everyday life. He argued that culture is made in the ordinary processes of living – in communities, workplaces, families, and streets.

Implications for Practice

If culture is ordinary, then everyone is already a cultural creator. Our job as practitioners is not to bring culture to communities but to recognise, value, and support the culture that already exists. This fundamentally changes the relationship between artist and community.

My Grandmother's Buttons

I keep a collection of vintage buttons inherited from my grandmother. They remind me that culture is woven into everyday objects, passed down through generations. The skills of making, mending, creating – these are cultural practices as valid as anything in a gallery or theatre.

Cultural Democracy

Williams' vision was of cultural democracy – not just access to existing culture, but the power to shape what culture is and what it becomes. This remains the horizon of participatory arts practice: genuine redistribution of cultural power.