Cultural Diversity and the Arts Research Project:
Towards the Development of an Arts Council Policy and Action Plan (2009)
Authors Daniel Jewesbury; Jagtar Singh (Change Institute); Sarah Tuck (Create), 2009. Research Advisors: Ronit Lentin (Trinity College Dublin); Alice Feldman (University College Dublin); Piaras Mac Éinrí (University College Cork). Commissioned by The Arts Council & Funded by Office of the Minister for Integration NPAR NI, 2009.
Cultural Diversity and the Arts Research Project:
Towards the Development of an Arts Council Policy and Action Plan (2009)
Authors Daniel Jewesbury; Jagtar Singh (Change Institute); Sarah Tuck (Create), 2009. Research Advisors: Ronit Lentin (Trinity College Dublin); Alice Feldman (University College Dublin); Piaras Mac Éinrí (University College Cork). Commissioned by The Arts Council & Funded by Office of the Minister for Integration NPAR NI, 2009.
The remit of The Arts Council is established in law in the Arts Act, 2003. Under its terms, the Arts Council is the national body responsible for promoting public knowledge and awareness of the arts, supporting materially and financially the development and production of the arts, and communicating to the government and public sector on matters concerning the arts. Under the Arts Act, local authorities are also required to support the development of the arts within their areas. The Equality Act 2004 is the instrument by which the EU’s Race Directive, Framework Employment Directive and Gender Equal Treatment Amendment Directive are incorporated into Irish law. The Act prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, and harassment, in employment, training and general public provision on nine grounds: gender, marital status, family status, age, disability, racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religious belief and membership of the Traveller community. The Act defines the minimum standards with which arts provision must comply, with respect to equality of access and provision. The Act consolidates earlier legislation in the Equal Status Acts 2000 and 2003 and the Employment Equality Act 1998.
The National Economic and Social Forum (NESF) Report No. 35: The Arts, Cultural Inclusion and Social Cohesion (2007) is the most relevant recent body of research into broad issues of participation and cultural inclusion. It evaluates the social and economic benefits of the arts from a variety of perspectives. The report presents research data into the activities of the main stakeholders in the arts, at governmental and non-governmental level, including evaluations of access routes into arts education and of provisions for community arts. The report concludes with recommendations designed to increase cultural inclusion. The Arts, Cultural Inclusion and Social Cohesion report cites a lack of available data on participation in the arts (the data it cites are those presented in The Public and the Arts), and one of the consequences of this finding was the publication of the subsequent NESF report In the Frame or Out of the Picture: A Statistical Analysis of Public Involvement in the Arts (2008; eds. Pete Lunn and Elish Kelly). This gives detail on the composition of audiences at arts events including analysis by age, class, gender and minority status. This report provides the first detailed information on participation in the arts (and in broader cultural events) in Ireland, and shows that significant and multiple barriers to participation appear to exist for many disadvantaged groups.
In April 2009 the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI )will be presenting report findings of research: Promoting cultural diversity in the Irish broadcasting sector: an assessment of international standards and best practices with a view to their operationalisationin an Irish context, conducted by Tarlach McGonagle, University of Amsterdam; and in September 2009 the BCI will publish the report Irish broadcasting and the ‘New Ireland’; Mapping and Visioning Cultural Diversity compiled by Dr. Gavan Titley, National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
The National Economic and Social Forum (NESF) Report No. 35: The Arts, Cultural Inclusion and Social Cohesion (2007) is the most relevant recent body of research into broad issues of participation and cultural inclusion. It evaluates the social and economic benefits of the arts from a variety of perspectives. The report presents research data into the activities of the main stakeholders in the arts, at governmental and non-governmental level, including evaluations of access routes into arts education and of provisions for community arts. The report concludes with recommendations designed to increase cultural inclusion. The Arts, Cultural Inclusion and Social Cohesion report cites a lack of available data on participation in the arts (the data it cites are those presented in The Public and the Arts), and one of the consequences of this finding was the publication of the subsequent NESF report In the Frame or Out of the Picture: A Statistical Analysis of Public Involvement in the Arts (2008; eds. Pete Lunn and Elish Kelly). This gives detail on the composition of audiences at arts events including analysis by age, class, gender and minority status. This report provides the first detailed information on participation in the arts (and in broader cultural events) in Ireland, and shows that significant and multiple barriers to participation appear to exist for many disadvantaged groups.
In April 2009 the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI )will be presenting report findings of research: Promoting cultural diversity in the Irish broadcasting sector: an assessment of international standards and best practices with a view to their operationalisationin an Irish context, conducted by Tarlach McGonagle, University of Amsterdam; and in September 2009 the BCI will publish the report Irish broadcasting and the ‘New Ireland’; Mapping and Visioning Cultural Diversity compiled by Dr. Gavan Titley, National University of Ireland, Maynooth.