The Arts, Cultural Inclusion, and Social Cohesion
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The Arts, Cultural Inclusion and Social Cohesion NESF Report 35 · January 2007 ii Contents Preface vi Section I Background Chapter 1 Participation in the Arts, and Cultural Inclusion: Definitions, Benefits, Evidence and Barriers 1 Chapter 2 Key Legislation and Policies 26 Section II Key Actions to Support Broader Participation in the Arts 42 Chapter 3 Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the Arts Council and the National Cultural Institutions 46 Chapter 4 Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Local Authorities 60 Chapter 5 Department of Education and Science 76 Chapter 6 Arts in Communities 90 Section III Summary and Recommendations 104 Chapter 7 Summary of Key Report Findings 106 Chapter 8 Strategic Recommendations 112 Annexes 126 References 127 Annex I Summary of Submissions Received 131 Annex II List of Submissions Received 145 Annex III Individuals and Organisations Consulted by the Team and Secretariat 147 Annex IV Seminar on Cultural Inclusion, 17 May 2006: Attendance List 148 iii Annex V List of Successful ACCESS Projects 149 Annex VI Plenary Session on Cultural Inclusion, 1 November: Attendance list 150 Terms of Reference and Constitution of the NESF 153 Membership of the NESF 154 NESF Publications 157 Maps Non-commercial visual arts centres in Ireland 159 List of Tables Table 1.1 Dimensions of participation in the arts 2 Table 1.2 Three main forms of art education (formal and informal) 6 Table 1.3 Percentage of people attending arts events, 2006, by occupational class 12 Table 1.4 Percentage of people attending selected arts events, 2006, by household income 13 Table 1.5 Percentage of people attending selected arts events, 2006, by educational level 14 Table 1.6 Percentage of people attending selected arts events, 2006, by age 15 Table 1.7 Downloading arts material, 2006, by occupational class 16 Table 1.8 Reading for pleasure, 2006, by occupational class 18 Table 1.9 Reading for pleasure, 2006, by educational level 18 Table 1.10 Most popular hobbies of 12-18 year olds, 2004 19 Table 1.11 Reasons given for not attending/participating in an arts event in which a person was interested, 2006, by occupational class 22 Table 3.1 Revenue funding by the Arts Council – 2006 offers 49 Table 3.2 Funding to national cultural institutions in 2006 54 Table 5.1 Percentage of pupils taking arts subjects in main exams, 2006 79 Table 8.1 Indicators on the arts and social inclusion in local authorities 122 iv List of Diagrams Diagram 3.1 Organisations supporting the arts in Ireland 43 Diagram 8.1 The arts and cultural inclusion: Main recommendations 114 Diagram 8.2 Institutional arrangements to implement the report’s recommendations 124 List of Boxes Box 1 Abbey Theatre Outreach Programme 50 Box 2 Watchhouse Cross Library – Outreach Work 63 Box 3 Taobh Tíre – Donegal County Council 64 Box 4 Art@Work – Roscommon County Council 68 Box 5 Between Colours – Mayo County Council 69 Box 6 ‘Red lines between the fingers’ – IMMA/ Breaking the Cycle Project78 Box 7 National Association of Youth Drama 82 Box 8 KCAT 85 Box 9 Caught on Camera – Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) 97 Box 10 Tower Songs – Fatima Mansions and Dolphin House 98 v vi Preface Introduction A commitment to social inclusion requires that we embrace all facets of life including the economic, political and cultural domains. While we are familiar with the concepts of economic marginalisation and social exclusion, we are less so with that of cultural exclusion. By cultural exclusion we mean exclusion from access to cultural goods and resources that are regularly accessed by the better-off in society. Learning a musical instrument, appreciating how music is composed and performed, developing the capacity to understand and interpret visual culture, for example, provide children (and adults) with access to rich cultural resources that interact with social capital1 to contribute to quality of life and well-being. In his eloquent address to the NESF Plenary Session devoted to this report, Francois Matarasso (2006) put the case for cultural inclusion even more strongly. It is, he said ‘fundamental to democratic society that everyone has an equal right to participate in the nation’s artistic and cultural life, alongside the right to par- ticipate in formal democratic processes’ – a principle enshrined in Article 27 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ‘Put simply, since the arts shape the continual evolution of people’s thoughts and beliefs, democracy must ensure all citizens have equal access to the arts, alongside equal access to education and political enfranchisement’ (p. 2). Yet access to artistic resources, the ability to generate and sustain cultural capital2, and the capacity to engage in active cultural citizenship appear to be distributed highly unevenly across Irish society. As Matarasso (2006) states, it is the role of the government to address this, by increasing ‘the diversity of cultural expression through various means, including ensuring that all citizens have equal access to the arts not just as consumers, but also as creators, producers, distri- butors, commentators and decision-makers. That is cultural inclusion’ (p. 3)3. However relatively little attention in a formal policy sense has been paid to date to this aspect of the arts in the Irish context, although some significant initiatives have been undertaken in this regard at national, regional and local level. In the early 1990s, the Combat Poverty Agency and the Arts Council introduced a number of measures to promote community development and cultural inclusion by addressing the issues of poverty and disadvantage. Nearly all local authorities now have an arts officer and engage actively in schemes to broaden participation in the arts, and a major programme to address increased participation and social inclusion in the library service has been underway for some years. As shall be seen later a range of other measures have also been put in place by other State 1 Defined by the OECD as ‘networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate co-operation within or among groups’ (see NESF, 2003, pages 3 and 29). 2 Cultural capital, as defined by Pierre Bourdieu (1986), refers to the set of cultural experiences and aesthetic sensibilities that enable people to wield power and status in society. The acquisition of culture starts in families and schools but has an impact throughout the lifecycle as a marker of status and distinction. 3 See also Stanley, 2006. vii departments and agencies and voluntary and private organisations to bring about increased participation by all in the arts. As such, in a practical sense much has happened in Ireland in the last twenty years. Against this background, and taking into account its earlier report on the Implications of Social Capital (NESF, 2003), the NESF decided to initiate work on how the arts contribute to cultural inclusion and social cohesion and how this can be enhanced further. Issues to be Examined While much of this report relates to participation in the arts, and cultural inclusion in general, the Project Team for this report decided early on that in relation to the detail of institutional practice and policy just three main areas of the arts, namely libraries, the visual arts and theatre (both professional and amateur), would be examined4. The reasons for this are outlined in Chapter 1. It was also decided that the following broad questions would be explored: 1. What is meant by arts participation and cultural inclusion? 2. Why does participation in the arts and cultural inclusion matter? In particular, how does it contribute to social cohesiveness? 3. What are the main barriers to cultural inclusion through participation in the arts? 4. What policies and measures have been put in place in Ireland to address, either directly or indirectly, the issues of participation in the arts and cultural inclusion? 5. Drawing on existing Irish practice and lessons, if any, from elsewhere what changes can be recommended to improve the contribution of the arts to cultural inclusion and social cohesion? 4 Libraries are included here as part of the arts sector, although some might consider that they belong to the wider cultural sector (see Chapter 1). viii NESF Report No. 35 Team Membership A Project Team to work on this report was established in December 2005. Its membership, which was drawn from the four strands of NESF members5, and so was representative of a broad range of interests and organisations, was as follows: Chair Professor John O’Hagan, Trinity College Dublin Strand One Mr Jimmy Deenihan, T.D. Fine Gael Ms Liz McManus T.D. Labour Party Senator Paschal Mooney Fianna Fáil Strand Two Ms Jane Boushell Services, Industrial, Professional & Technical Union Ms Mary McGreal Irish Farmer’s Association Mr Brendan Newsome Irish Business and Employer’s Confederation Strand Three Ms Margot Kenny National Youth Council of Ireland Ms Siobhán O’Donoghue Anti-Poverty Network Strand Four Ms Vanessa Coffey Combat Poverty Agency Dr Mary Corcoran National University of Ireland, Maynooth Dr Martin Dowling University College Dublin Mr Chris Flynn Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism Ms Emma Kelly Arts Council Ms Helen O’Donoghue Irish Museum of Modern Art Mr Kevin Ring Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government NESF Secretariat Dr Anne-Marie McGauran 5 Membership of the NESF is drawn from four strands – Oireachtas (TDs and Senators from both Government and Opposition parties); Employers, Trade Unions and Farming organisations; the Voluntary and Community sector; central Government, local Government and independents. Preface ix Working Methods The Team met ten times. A public call for submissions was made in February 2006. Altogether 82 submis- sions were received from interested organisations and individuals, and these are summarised in Annex 1 of this report.