Abstract
Alfaro-Hamayon examines how the arts reflect a shift away from the cultural traditions model towards interculturalism in a province that is increasingly diverse ethnically. To provide a better understanding of the stakes of this evolution in a divided society, the author relocates her analysis within the broader conflict-transformation process, underlining the link between sectarianism and racism. Her exploration of the work of Tinderbox, Arts Ekta and Terra Nova Productions highlights the role played by the arts in promoting genuine cultural exchange and empowering long-established ethnic minorities as well as new migrants. It also shows that the arts—building on the dynamism of the community arts sector—contribute to challenging fixed identities and shaping public policies.
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Notes
- 1.
It is worth noting that policing and justice were devolved in April 2010. Westminster, however, retains control over nationality, immigration and asylum. In the new context of Brexit , this is likely to impact the situation of migrant workers in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland, like Scotland, voted in favour of staying within the EU.
- 2.
As Moriarty and Thiara explain, ‘[t]he 2011 Census showed that 1.8 per cent of the usually resident population of Northern Ireland belonged to minority ethnic groups in 2011, more than double the minority ethnic groups in 2001 (0.8 per cent)’ (2015, p. 43).
- 3.
Estimates of the number of asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland vary. The Racial Equality Strategy—2015–2025 reports that ‘certain figures suggest that some 500 asylum seekers (including dependents), principally from China, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Pakistan/Iran, are supported here by the Home Office and that up to 200 people make a fresh claim each year’ (Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister 2015, p. 15).
- 4.
To get more detailed information on the work done locally, consult the evaluation report commissioned by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland on the Intercultural Arts Programme 2012–2015 (Moriarty and Thiara 2015).
- 5.
Laurence Gibson, who worked in collaboration with the Belfast Migrant Centre, interviewed and photographed migrants who decided to settle in Northern Ireland. The project, which started in 2013, was funded through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Belfast City Council under the Good Relations Grant and the Community Relations Council.
- 6.
See http://www.terranovaproductions.net/, accessed 27 April 2017.
- 7.
- 8.
The ‘structural approach’ refers to the legislation that was introduced to address discrimination against Catholics in employment, housing and education in the 1970s and 1980s.
- 9.
Wheelworks is one of the five organisations that took part in the Programme for Support of Intercultural Arts (personal interview with Conor Shields, from the Community Arts Partnership, March 2015). It was set up in 1995 and primarily works with children and young people. Since the early 2000s, it has developed a series of programmes exploring identity (‘Multiple Realities’), dealing with difference, and promoting respect through the use of digital technologies.
- 10.
Creative Belfast is a 3-year programme jointly funded by the Belfast City Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. They are investing £900,000 to support a series of events bringing together community groups, artists and residents from across the city.
- 11.
The amount of money spent on the arts per capita remains lower in Northern Ireland than in other regions of the UK. In addition, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland has had its 2016–2017 budget cut by almost half a million pounds by the Department for Communities.
- 12.
See www.artsekta.org.uk, accessed 20 April 2017.
- 13.
The Indian community arrived in the 1920s and 1930s, mainly from Punjab and Gujurat (Edmund et al. 2006, p. 16).
- 14.
Audiences Northern Ireland is a charity that focuses on audience development across Northern Ireland. Its aim is to increase and diversify audiences for the arts in the province.
- 15.
In 2011, the Community Arts Forum and the New Belfast Community Arts Initiative merged to form the Community Arts Partnership.
- 16.
Unpublished document given to the author by Conor Shields, Chief Executive of the Community Arts Partnership.
- 17.
Milton J. Bennett is co-founder of the Intercultural Communication Institute and director of the Intercultural Development Research Institute. He created the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity. See www.idrinstitute.org, accessed 6 April 2017.
- 18.
See www.terranovaproductions.net, accessed on 10 September 2016.
- 19.
Some of the writers were of mixed origin.
- 20.
See https://theatreni.org/assets/uploads/Mi-Mundo-2017.docx, accessed 6 April 2017.
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Alfaro-Hamayon, H. (2018). Interculturalism and the Arts in Post-Conflict Northern Ireland. In: Villar-Argáiz, P. (eds) Irishness on the Margins. New Directions in Irish and Irish American Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74567-1_11
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