• Arts Council Ireland

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04 October 2010In order to support the arts sector in developing its thinking and practice as well as to inform its own work over the coming years, The Irish Arts Council has developed this policy and strategy for cultural diversity in the arts. 

The policy and strategy are underpinned by the research report Cultural Diversity and the Arts (2009), which was commissioned by the Arts Council in partnership with the Office of the Minister for Integration/ National Action Plan against Racism (NPAR) and co-ordinated by Create the national development agency for collaborative arts.

The Arts Council has already begun to implement the policy by undertaking the following actions in 2010:

- The publication of a pamphlet entitled Cultural Diversity and the Arts – Language and Meanings. This is intended as a resource for the arts sector and other relevant parties, and as a means of informing and enriching public discourse about culturally diverse interaction, collaboration and experimentation in the arts, based on shared understandings of relevant terms.

- The introduction of a specific cultural diversity strand to the Local Partnership Scheme in order to foster intercultural capacity at local and national level through strategic collaboration among local authorities and with arts and non-arts organisations. 

- The piloting of a cultural diversity audit on selected Arts Council schemes including the Artist in the Community Scheme; Deis Scheme; Small Festivals Scheme; Young Ensembles Scheme and the Local Partnership Scheme.