Volume 8, 2020 – 2021

Table of Contents

RESEARCH PAPER: Priming the Pump into Action: Institutions of Culture, Amateur Drama, and Paradigm Shift in 1950s Ireland 

IAN KENNEDY

p. 4 – 28

Focusing on case studies that deal with An Tóstal and the North Cork Drama Festival, this paper argues that amateur drama festivals, supported by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, dynamically contributed to the paradigm shift that took place within post-war Irish society.

Key words: The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon;  Paradigm Shift; Cultural Policy; Amateur Drama; Festival; Cork

RESEARCH PAPER: Śledzie and Soda Bread: Are Intercultural Events Truly Intercultural?

TOM MARSHALL

p. 29 – 53

Intercultural events, particularly one-off ‘fun-days’ present displays of cultural stereotypes where dialogue is superficial undermining inter-community interaction. Local funding policies may also contribute to the lack of diverse and long-term (trans)local dialogue.

BOOK REVIEW: Managing Culture: Reflecting on Exchange in Global Times eds. Victoria Durrer and Raphaela Henze (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020).

ANDREA MONTGOMERY

p. 54 – 62

Review of a collection of essays on intercultural best practice in global arts and education policy and management with real-world case studies.

Key words: Managing Culture, Global Exchange, Intercultural Policy, Cultural Arts and Education

POLICY REVIEW: A response to the Covid-19 crisis for the Arts in Ireland and Impact of the Coronavirus on the Northern Ireland Arts Sector

MARIA O’BRIEN & LUCY COSTELLOE

p. 63 – 77

Focusing on two policy reports addressing the crisis in the arts arising from COVID-19, this paper interrogated the policy responses to the challenges for the arts sector in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Key words: COVID-19; arts policy; digital divide; precarity in the arts

NEW VOICES: Pitching Possibilities of Emerging Culture: Positioning Kickstarter as a Cultural Institution and its contributions to the development of Cultural Policy Framework for open digital cultural practice 

DOIREANN BONFIELD

p. 78 – 96

This study considers Kickstarter as a cultural institution, its socio-cultural feats’ alignment with prescriptions of ‘core cultural institutions’, all the while exposing cultural hierarchies and restrictive iterations of ‘culture’. 

Key words: Kickstarter; cultural materialism; emerging culture; cultural production; cultural institutions; digital mediation; cultural engagement

NEW VOICES: The representation of female visual artists in national cultural institutions: A case study of the Ulster Museum Belfast

FIONA LOWE

p. 97 – 117

This paper adopts a qualitative approach to examine factors that influence the programming of women’s visual artwork in national cultural institutions, with a focused examination at the Ulster Museum, Belfast. 

Key words: cultural institutions; gender; museum studies; women’s visual art

PERSPECTIVES ON PRACTICE: Artist-led ensembles – an interview with Conor Mitchell, founder of The Belfast Ensemble

ALI FITZGIBBON

p. 118 – 132

In the first Perspectives on Practice interview, Conor Mitchell speaks to Ali FitzGibbon about the challenges and opportunities of establishing artist-led The Belfast Ensemble, exploring its civic and artistic purpose and considering its identity as Belfast-based.

Key words: ensembles; artist-led; collaborative practice; Northern Ireland

RESEARCH PAPER: On-line and on land: an examination of Irish arts festivals’ responses to Covid-19

DAVID TEEVAN

p. 133 – 157

This paper considers the short- to medium-term implication for festival organisations and arts policy writers of changes in festival practice introduced to enable organisations operate and accommodate social distancing regulations introduced to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

Key words: arts festivals; arts policy; Covid-19; digital pivot