Colloquia Launch

The National Campaign for the Arts are pleased to announce the launch of

NCFA COLLOQUIA
Conversations about the Arts and Arts Policy

NCFA COLLOQUIA – Conversations about the Arts and Arts Policy  was launched  on Saturday 13th April 2013 at Exchange Dublin in Temple Bar. The NCFA COLLOQUIA are four structured conversations specially devised to challenge and change how we all think and speak about the arts in general and the funded arts sector in Ireland in particular.

The first of the NCFA COLLOQUIA will be held in the National Concert Hall on 15 May 2013 and will be led by Tara Byrne, independent cultural manager and researcher, who has curated the conversations. Each of the NCFA COLLOQUIA aims for a mix of professionals, academics, makers, producers, curators, directors, advisers,  funders and interested parties, with a guest speaker recognised as a leader in their field from a comparable cultural context outside of Ireland; expect  robust conversations on issues such as public engagement, evidence building, collective intention and education.

The NCFA COLLOQUIA series have come about in response to the lack of adequate substantive and rigorous research on the arts and cultural activity in Ireland. The aim of these four conversations is to promote a case for research that will redress this deficit of knowledge.  It is our intention to involve policy makers and funding institutions who will take on board insights that emerge as they shape the sector into the future.

To mark the launch of the NCFA COLLOQUIA, we have published the NCFA Strategy on Research along with a brief position paper which makes a case for an improved evidence base on which to build better policy-making for the arts.

NCFA COLLOQUIA will feed into the NCFA’s own ongoing research and pre‐2014 Budget campaign.

“We see this as a great opportunity to engage widely on research, to listen and learn from others so we can inform ourselves, our stakeholders and our Minister. We expect the NCFA COLLOQUIA to be a full-blooded investigation of the clichés, prejudices, cherished beliefs, and cultural bogeymen that stand in the way of a better understanding of the value of the funded arts sector.”  

Valerie Connor, NCFA Chairperson

The NCFA COLLOQUIA series is supported by Independent Seanad Eireann Senator Fiach Mac Conghail.