Foreword by Martin Lynch

Artistes Need Communities,

Communities Need Artistes,

The New Power of the Arts.

I remember years ago, Michael Longley - now unquestionably our most illustrious resident poet in Northern Ireland - saying that he felt the politicians here were failing the people. He went further and said he thought it would be up to the artistes in our community to forge a new dialogue to help resolve the troubles in Northern Ireland. At the time, I thought he was a crackpot, off his head, probably taking tablets - that's what I thought at the time.

Today I'm not so sure.

When we reflect on some of the theatre work that has been produced over the last twenty or so years, we can begin to see how a dialogue was, and has been, in fact taking place. If you look at the plays of Graham Reid, Christina Reid, myself, Charabanc Theatre Company, etc. in the 80's, it has to be recognised that large numbers of people from all sections of our community went to see these plays, not just in conventional theatres, but in community centres, social clubs, leisure centres, etc. - in the very heart of communities. These plays had the power to make people laugh, to move them and to create debate long after the final curtain. In the 90s, we could look at the work of Dubblejoint Theatre Company, Marie Jones and Just Us and the packed houses they played to in the heart of West Belfast. The political dialogue, or propaganda  whatever takes your fancy  was clearly palpable and above all, relevant.

In my opinion, The Wedding Community Play which took place throughout 1998/9, took this kind of political dialogue to a new level. The very people from the most troubled areas of Belfast  and all the personal and family connections, hurts, prejudices, rivalries, traditions, etc. that that entailed  came together and entered into a dialogue about the nature of their society. It was blunt, humorous, painful, joyous, enlightening, life-changing etc.  and that was before a word was spoken! We know The Wedding Community Play didnt change the world, but perhaps it changed something for the fifty participants who felt that this medium  the medium of the arts  was a real and tangible way to debate and articulate their lives. This kind of dialogue and debate simply would not have happened in these communities twenty, thirty or forty years ago. Without community theatre, these people have to rely on our politicians engaging  in the main  in a kind of arms length, emotionally arrested war mode, flinging and flying or words, ideas and insults.

Perhaps the other art forms have not been so successful in creating a dialogue within the Northern Ireland community.

For instance, in spite of the politically provocative work of some of our best known visual artistes, such as Joe McWilliams, Dermot Seymour, Jack Packenham, the Delargeys, etc. in my opinion, their work has not reached significant levels of public debate and dialogue, largely because of the preponderance of showing the work in conventional spaces. Spaces that are forever doomed to be inhabited only by the adventurous, the moderately temperate, the anger-sealed few. It could be argued that the work of politicallymotivated street muralists, such as Danny Devanny, has had more of an impact on the city of Belfast than all the aforementioned artistes put together.

Only the work of Rita Duffy stands out as a politically engaging artiste who is not only concerned with the content of her work but  and this is crucial  is concerned enough to ensure her work is seen by a wide section of the population in unconventional spaces and places.

Disappointingly it may be concluded by most that the works of our best known poets has not had the kind of impact on society that is might have up to this point. I say this, knowing poetry, will never rival football in the popularity stakes. Heaney is an obvious exception, in that he is popularly read and exposed to large numbers of young people at school level. His politically orientated poems have been few and far between and he would never gain a political mantle. The best known of the other, - e.g. Muldoon, Mahon, Montague, McGuckian, Paulin, Carson, etc. have largely written, it might be argued, into some kind of large underground pipe that is not visible to the vast majority of the people in Northern Ireland. Here, I think, Michael Longley, has the potential and the power to transcend all of this. He is reaching a stage where his work is becoming "popular"; and, above all, he shows a keen interest in being relevant. The next five years will be interesting.

Against my better judgement, I am coming around to Michael Longleys point of view regarding the possible impact of artistes on real life in Northern Ireland.

However, I probably come at this from a different angle to Longley. As a consequence of my work, both in mainstream arts and community arts, I now firmly believe that in order for art to mean anything to large numbers of people, there must be an engagement by the artiste with the community. Obviously, since I believe art, in all its forms, enhances and civilises us, both as individuals, and as communities, I am equally certain that communities need artistes.

When the Belfast European Partnership Board announced its funding criteria for its second tranche of Peace 1 funds three years ago, it stipulated a preference for applications that were (i) citywide and (ii) proposed by a consortium of groups. This created debate within the Community Arts Forum. We finally decided that we would form a consortium and apply. We also decided that our project would be called the "New Belfast" Community Arts Initiative. The Initiative would involve five separate but linked projects