Abstract

A discussion event considering issues of cultural 'ownership', the means by which material is defined as 'folk' and is held and/or distributed through organisational mechanisms, and also the meaning of the connections between contemporary art strategies and folk art practice. The idea of the initial roundtable was to bring together practitioners - arts, academic, institutional - to work through these questions, out of which new thinking could emerge. The participants in the discussion were: Linda Ballard (Ulster Folk and Transport Museum); Des Bell (Queen's University Belfast); Tony Candon (National Museum of Ireland, Folk Life, Castlebar); Pat Cooke (University College, Dublin); Jeremy Deller (artist, London); Kelly Fitzgerald (University College, Dublin); Sandy Fitzgerald (CultureWorks, Dublin); Alan Kane (artist, London); Ulrich Kickell (University of Ulster); Grainne Loughran (University of Ulster); Declan McGonagle (University of Ulster), Bjarne Rohan (University of Oslo, Norway); Jane Speller (CityArts, Dublin); Richard Wentworth (artist, London).This event was jointly organised by Interface (University of Ulster, Belfast) and CityArts, Dublin.