This should be v good. Saudi Arabia’s original doctor-cum-artistic-superstar, Ahmed Mater, has his first solo show in Britain. 11 October – 30 October at 51 Poland Street, London. More here.

In the book I go on a bit about the relationship between the state and the third sector, exactly where one ends and the other begins. In a similar vein, I liked this piece by Stephanie Smith, that touches on what happens when the state is forced to retreat.

If you need more of a Big Society fix, here’s a report by the Young Foundation, again, looking at the reality of Big Society.

Exciting for anyone interested in Middle Eastern art,  in particular just how it is described, criticized, documented, produced. http://www.artterritories.net/ was launched earlier this month.

When writing about contemporary art in Saudi Arabia, again and again the artists I met moaned about the lack of venues or institutions dealing with the critical discussion of contemporary art… They’ll certainly like this.

by Parliament Square is something you’d think Brian Haw would be squarely behind. Interesting that he’s dead against it.

I’m a fan of the RSA’s Connected Communities programme, mainly for the talks they organize, also their blog. Here’s a write-up of its eponymous publication. Lots of common ground here with Together in terms of the spurious emphasis on communities of place. Here’s the report itself.