A quick reminder to all interested parties that as part of the CULTMED project, CULTURELINK – The Centre for Research in Cultural Policy, Development and Cooperation is organizing the fourth lecture within the Culturelink Guest Lecture Series, which will be held on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, at 4 p.m. in the library of the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO). Irish lecturer and researcher in cultural policy, Paraic Mc Quaid, will hold a lecture entitled “Basic Income for Artists – assessment of the Irish Pilot”.
The lecture will look at the Basic Income for Artists (BIA) scheme implemented in Ireland in the context of cultural policy. In particular, it will attempt to shine a light on what set of political, economic, cultural and social circumstances gave rise to such a scheme, which raised considerable interest internationally. The lecture will present some analysis of the policy discourse surrounding the implementation of the scheme, analysis of the proposal documents, ministerial press releases, etc. It will look at the questions surrounding why artists should be singled out for such special treatment, and it will look at how the scheme relates to Universal Basic Income. In addition, the lecture will present an overview of the research that has been commissioned to assess the impacts of the scheme. Policy problems will then be explored; such as – how this scheme, if continued, would impact the Arts Council and other forms of artist financial support, how will means testing be applied, which government agency is best placed to administer the scheme? The lecture is based on an article co-written with Satu Teppo (University of Melbourne) for a special issue of the international scientific journal Cultural Trends in 2025.
The lecture will be held in English. You can apply until 1st September 2025, to kultura@irmo.hr.
