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Arts Funding

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 May 2018

Wednesday, 9 May 2018

Questions (22)

Paul Murphy

Question:

22. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views on the ability of arts and culture projects to question social and political matters without a risk to funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20207/18]

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Oral answers (8 contributions)

Is the Minister concerned about the significant restriction on artistic expression which, in my opinion, amounted to censorship in two recent cases? The cases in question relate to the removal of the Maser mural from the Project Arts Centre under threat of the centre losing charitable status from the Charities Regulator and the withdrawal of an event entitled "The Question of the Eighth" from the International Literature Festival in Dublin under threat of the withdrawal of funding by Dublin City Council.

Through their work, artists, writers and musicians address social and political issues and shape the way that we view a particular topic. They challenge us to think outside of our comfort zone and to understand the rationale for debate or change by engaging us interactively.

By their very nature, arts and culture organisations lead and reflect societal change. As we work together to ensure that people are heard and listened to, we will see that the stories we tell, the work we make and the society we share begin to change shape for the better. The voices of the excluded, the less powerful and the marginalised, are amplified and broadcast. This change is inherently powerful. Artistic freedom must be recognised and valued.

Historically, artists and writers around the world have played a major part in effecting societal and political change. I think particularly of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Mexico, the work of a particular favourite of mine, Maya Angelou, during the civil rights struggle in 1960s America and that of our own Seamus Heaney during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Their writings prompted debate, which ultimately brought about change.

In Ireland, the Arts Council is the primary body that allocates funding to artists and arts organisations. Although funded by my Department, the council is statutorily independent in its funding allocations and I, as Minister, cannot influence this funding.

I presume the Deputy is raising the matter in the context of the current referendum. In this instance, public bodies are also obliged to act with impartiality and are all subject to the clear guidance from the Referendum Commission that any information disseminated by Government or its agencies or bodies involving the use of public funds must be equal, fair, impartial and neutral. That is a separate obligation which falls on public bodies.

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to demonstrate the importance of arts and culture to societal well-being. It is an opportunity to prompt debate.

I welcome the Minister's agreement about the political role of art. Toni Morrison famously said, "All of that art-for-art's-sake stuff is BS. What are these people talking about?" She also stated:

All good art is political! There is none that isn't. And the ones that try hard not to be political are political by saying, "We love the status quo."

I am not sure whether there is any good art that is not political but I certainly think that attempting to rule out or censor art on the basis of it being political is extremely troublesome. Does the Minister agree with the Charities Regulator's move to say that unless the Maser mural was removed from the Project Arts Centre, the centre could lose its charitable status? Does the Minister agree with Dublin City Council's decision to threaten the withdrawal of funding from the International Literature Festival in Dublin unless a particular event, which was about the eighth amendment and which was not a campaigning or repeal event, was removed? Does the Minister agree with the decision to threaten to withdraw funding with the result that a particular event was cancelled?

The event referred to by the Deputy was organised by Una Mullaly from The Irish Times for the International Literature Festival. Dublin City Council cited the guidance from the Referendum Commission, which, in turn, restates the guidance from the Attorney General that public funds, as I said earlier, should not be used to promote either side of the debate during a referendum. The mural referred to by the Deputy included the words "Repeal the Eighth" with a heart around them and was on the outside wall of the Project Arts Centre. The mural was created by Maser, an artist originally from Ireland who now lives in the US. Unfortunately, the mural ran contrary to the Charities Regulator's views on this. I know the Taoiseach made comments in the Dáil about it previously in response to a question from Deputy Coppinger. He said:

I understand this decision was made by the Charities Regulator, not the Government, and I assume the Charities Regulator would have taken the same approach or attitude had it been a pro-life or anti-abortion mural. I have no doubt but that the mural will appear elsewhere. Someone who owns a private building may wish to make the space available for the mural to be reinstated. Perhaps even the fact that it has been removed means more people saw it than might have otherwise seen it had it not been removed. While one can paint over a mural, one certainly cannot paint over an issue. The issue is that nine women every day in Ireland are forced to travel overseas to end their pregnancies and three women in Ireland every day - the number will only rise into the future - import pills online and take them without medical supervision and guidance, often in their own homes.

That is not really relevant to the question.

I am just quoting the comments the Taoiseach made in the Dáil.

Does the Minister not agree that there is a problem here? Censorship of art is happening under the banner that a referendum is due to take place. How far does it go? What will be censored next? Una Mullaly wrote about her event and stated:

My event was about a book. It was not a campaigning event. It was not a rally or a demonstration or a hustings. If I am said to be "taking a side", then what does shutting down an event about a book look like?

That one cannot hold an event that touches on an issue that is being discussed in a referendum seems to be an extremely over-zealous interpretation on the part of Dublin City Council around the question of the use of public funds. Again, with regard to the Charities Regulator, the interpretation is being used in such a way that the Catholic Church, which has charitable status, can campaign fully for retention of the eighth amendment, as is its right, with no threat to its charitable status because it is said to be linked to its core purpose. Yet an arts centre cannot have a piece of art that refers to and has a slogan about the repeal of the eighth amendment on it because it does not relate to its core purpose, but it is art. It is not campaigning; it is art. The Government can have an opinion on it. It can disagree with the Charities Regulator and have different regulations and a different interpretation of the law or, if necessary, there could be an amendment to the Charities Act.

The key points from the Referendum Commission, which takes in the Attorney General's advice, is that any information disseminated by Government or any agencies or bodies involving the use of public funds must be equal, fair, impartial and neutral and that the Government is not entitled to spend public money for the purpose of promoting a campaign for a particular outcome. The Taoiseach said in the Dáil that he did not find the mural in any way offensive but he did not think it would be murals or posters that would change people's minds or convince them regarding this issue.

What we need is proper independent information such as we are getting from the Referendum Commission, which just started its work in recent days, and those of us who wish to advocate change going out there and speaking to people one-to-one, not berating them or preaching to them, but listening to their concerns and answering their questions. I think the Deputy is aware of my views about wishing to have the eighth amendment repealed, but we still have to obey the law and the guidelines of the Referendum Commission on both sides of this debate. I also point out that the Project Arts Centre received €718,000 from my Department in 2018. Art has always had the potential to stimulate conversation and be a driver for social change. I hope it will continue to do so.

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