Questions & Issues
The capacity of art to engage with contexts and issues is well recognised, but tends to be applied primarily in urban situations. Rural contexts and audiences have not been considered significant in the development of the contemporary cultural discourse.
Increasingly it is becoming clear that the rural is a contested zone, where the most pressing issues of our time are being played out – issues of environmental sustainability, issues of global economics versus local economies, issues of food production and genetic modification, issues of community breakdown, issues of cultural commodification – and so on.
These are cultural issues as much as social and economic ones, and need to be addressed as such. A new cultural discourse is required, one which places the rural at the center of a debate about arts practice, social engagement and sustainability.
The conference will be informed by research undertaken by the organising partners in the year prior to the conference. These include Academic Seminars, Arts Projects in rural contexts and round-table discussions. An accompanying programme of exhibitions and context-specific works will take place around Co. Clare.
Issues and questions likely to be addressed by the conference include: How does the post-agricultural economy affect the cultural life of rural communities? How can contemporary artists engage with rural communities and vernacular rural culture? How can contemporary artists bring to light the fault-lines that exist in the rural context? To what extent are cultural landscapes reflected in the practices of contemporary art? Does the key to maintaining the fabric of rural communities lie in cultural activity? Do artists have anything to add to the approaches of agriculturalists, heritage conservationists, ecologists and economists? What implications does this have for artistic practice in rural contexts?
The conference is organised by the Arts Office of Clare County Council and the Galway/ Mayo Institute of Technology with the support of the Arts Council of Ireland and others. Pre-conference research, conference papers and discussions will be published on this site.
For more information please contact Fiona Woods.