Art Worker
On the morning of Tuesday 8th September, 2026, representatives from Northern Ireland’s arts sector marched to Parliament Buildings at Stormont to protest the more than 50% funding cut (in real terms) since the 1998 Belfast Good Friday Agreement, most of which has occurred over the last ten years. Their demand, the resignation of the current Minister responsible for the Arts – Gordon Lyons MLA.
In 2000, political leaders described the arts as essential to building a shared future. Why, then, is Northern Ireland’s arts sector the lowest funded in 25 years?
I wrote this article for Arts Professional in 2025.
The following speech was presented at IWM London as part of its 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund conference in 2025.
It explores the nature of making art in communities with lived experience of violent political conflict and interrogating the impact of peace processes on social practice art-making. It was presented alongside the outcomes of making After the Rain by Compagnie XY, documented in the below film.
After the Rain was delivered over a two-year period in partnership with In Your Space Circus in Derry-Londonderry to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement in 2023.
(The speech has been lightly edited to make sense in this published context)