Arts & Culture Co Delivery Group 2023

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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. 2
Now is the time to lean into our challenges and look to the future together with hope. • Genuine collaboration requires energy, commitment of time and resources – we have yet to fully realise its potential • Financial resources aren’t everything, but good will and creativity alone can’t plug the gap left by serial underinvestment So, the question is what do we do now? Perhaps the opportunity is to recognise that we can no longer meet these challenges with the same old ways of working – we have to adapt, change and innovate. The current Arts & Culture Strategy is coming to an end and all of us are now charged with helping to renew it over the next period. In the context of a new Arts Council NI and the long-awaited Cultural Policy for NI this is going to be an important task. Now is the time to lean into our challenges and look to the future together and with hope. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues for all their creativity and energy over these past two years. My work as chair has been made more enjoyable by your kind support. What I think we have learned in the last 2 years is: • Our strategy needs more focus with a smaller number of more strategic, prioritised actions • Supporting all our peers from individual freelance artists to public funded and commercial organisations and providing a platform for their voices, strengthens us all. 3
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Arts & Culture Co Delivery Group 2023

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