Arts & Culture Co Delivery Group 2023

Foreword
Kevin Murphy
Chairperson, Arts & Culture Co-Delivery Group
2021-23
The 2021-23 Co-Delivery Group continues to sustain itself
and the strategy action plan through some exceptionally
challenging times:
• Covid-19 Pandemic
• A Cost of Living Crisis
• A climate emergency
• A breakdown of the NI Executive
• A Cultural Policy vacuum at central government level
There have been some important highlights, many of
which and more are covered in this report. Some of the
achievements that particularly resonate with me are:
• More collaborative working – evidenced in the
collaborative resilience programme and indeed in the
ethos and practice of the co-delivery group itself
• Greater recognition of the voices of artists, arts
organisation and Derry-Londonderry as a cultural
hub at local and central government and the
beginnings of better partnership working with
government
• The forming of a cultural brand and story that not
only can engage with audiences but elevates the city
region as a cultural place.
• Greater understanding of the difference we make
collectively
• A focus on access and inclusion
• Greater recognition of the distinctiveness of
the cultural offer here as well as an acceptance
at government level of the long-standing
underinvestment in the cultural life of this city region.
• Greater connection across the sector – with events
such as the City Conversation in 2023
There is much more to celebrate as you will see in the
rest of this report – and let’s make sure that, however
small the achievement is, we recognise it.
Where we find ourselves now is both full of challenge and
full of opportunity. Budgets that we had hoped to access
to, at the very least, mark 10 years after City of Culture
and build on these foundations and our ambitions, have
been decimated. There is no sugar-coating things – the
funding picture is stark, our regions governance is broken
and many of us here, as well as the communities we
serve, are facing severe social and economic challenges.
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