Equality and diversity in subsidised arts in Northern Ireland: a review with a focus on migrant and minority ethnic people

The Equality RoadMap project was a collaboration between Terra Nova Productions and Arts Management & Cultural Policy at Queen’s University Belfast. The report represents an early investigation of equality and diversity within subsidised arts in Northern Ireland with a particular focus on migrant and minority ethnic communities, theatre and the professional development of artists. The research team (Dr Ali FitzGibbon and Moran Been-noon) worked independently on the desk review and survey analysis but came together to discuss emerging stories from their findings. The work was completed between March and August 2021 and, following review with ACNI, a final draft was produced in February 2022 and accepted by the commissioning company.

The research was conducted in two parts. Stage 1 was a desk review of relevant reports and literature and an analysis of the diversity of Board and Management of Annually Funded Organisations (AFOs) using Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) survey data, scrutinising two years: 2016 – 2017 and 2019 - 2020. Stage 2 looked at the current situation for professional development of artists and artistic practice from diverse backgrounds in Northern Ireland, drawing from Section 75 monitoring data supplied by applicants to ACNI’s Support for Individual Artists (SIAP) Programme. Data was supplied anonymously and in such a way that individuals could not be identified. The periods for which data was supplied for both Stages spanned 2014 – 2015 to 2019 – 2020 (2020 – 2021 data for the SIAP programme was also supplied). While the total numbers in the survey were small in comparison to both wider population and cultural workforce, their significance is in the representation of migrant and minority ethnic communities within the principal decision-makers and artists recognised and legitimised by public funding.

Findings and Recommendations can be found in the Executive Summary.