Working Against the Clampdown: Who's Afraid of The Arts?

From the fear of funding withdrawals to online harassment and institutional cold feet, the pressure on artists to self-censor is mounting.

In a landscape defined by political sensitivity and institutional caution, how can we move beyond the so-called culture wars to embrace an ethos of courageous advocacy—rooted in radical kindness and a fierce commitment to human rights?

Join us for a provocative discussion on the tightening grip of risk aversion, political intervention, and the rising threat of harassment facing artists in Northern Ireland and beyond.

In a panel chaired by Stuart Bailie, We’re bringing together special guests from across the NI Arts & Culture sector to tackle the uncomfortable truths about censorship, political interference, and the challenges behind creative resistance in 2026.

Don’t miss this vital conversation on the future of creative freedom.

Biographies

Stuart Bailie is a Belfast-based music journalist and author who has been active in the music industry for 40 years. His work has appeared in NME, Mojo, Uncut, Q, Vox, Classic Rock, Hot Press, and The Irish Times.

His previous books include Trouble Songs: Music and Conflict in Northern Ireland (2018), Terri Hooley: Seventy-Five Revolutions (2023), 75 Van Songs (2020), and The Ballad of the Thin Man: The Authorised Biography of Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy (1997).

Bailie also wrote and narrated the BBC documentary So Hard to Beat (2007), co-founded the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast, and served as its CEO from 2008 to 2016. He currently edits Dig With It, a publication celebrating music, arts, and counterculture in Northern Ireland.

Alice Adams Lemon is the Northern Ireland Official for Equity, the UK trade union representing around 50,000 performers and creative practitioners. In this position she advocates for the rights, safety, fair pay, and working conditions of creative professionals living and working across Northern Ireland and for individual Equity UK members when working in the Republic of Ireland. 

She leads Equity NI’s Resist the Cuts campaign, mobilising public and government support for arts funding, and champions the Safe Home initiative to ensure performer safety during late-night shifts.

Her work includes delivering services for artists, organising for trade union activism, negotiating trade union agreements and fighting for contract fairness, fair pay, safe working environments, and recognition of the cultural value of the arts.  She is the Chair of the NI Irish Congress of Trade Unions Arts and Culture Committee.

Ruth McCarthy is Artistic Director of Outburst Arts and Outburst Queer Arts Festival in Belfast, producing, commissioning and curating cutting-edge arts events that explore gender and sexuality through a broad intersectional lens. A former TV and radio producer, she's been a curator and cultural activist for three decades, from grassroots queer club promotion and queerzines in the 90s to the co-production of award-winning new works like Abomination, A DUP Opera with The Belfast Ensemble. With a special interest in the social justice impacts of risk-taking art, particularly beyond mainstream institutional and EDI approaches, she has worked with artists, collaborators and activists from over thirty countries worldwide.

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Host or Publisher Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics