International Forum on Artistic Research
17th Conference of the Society for Artistic Research (SAR)
Name Place Fund

Monday, 6 July 2026 

The Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union began on 1 July. For the next six months, Ireland will lead the negotiations on the EU long-term budget (MFF) on behalf of the Council. Their leadership could have a significant impact, as crucial budget negotiations are scheduled to take place after the summer. These include decisions on funding programmes such as Horizon Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund.

To coincide with the start of the Irish Council Presidency, over 300 international representatives of the artistic and cultural research community gathered at the University of Galway for the SAR International Forum on Artistic Research. On their behalf, and on behalf of the #NamePlaceFund campaign partners, we sent an open letter to the Irish Cabinet. 

Read the open letter to the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU:

In it, the Artistic Research Alliance (ARA) urged the Irish Presidency to leverage their position in the ongoing MFF negotiations to champion the arts and the Cultural and Creative Sector and Industries (CCSI) within the EU's research, innovation, and competitiveness funding programmes. In particular, we urged them to include three action points in the MFF agenda to effectively anchor research and innovation funding for culture over the next seven years by naming, placing and funding culture in Horizon Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund.

The MFF creates a crucial opportunity for Europe to:

  • support the role of arts and artistic research in society;
  • recognise and invest in the generative and transformative potential of arts and culture;
  • realise the substantial growth potential of the CCSI;
  • champion Europe’s cultural and linguistic diversity.

Turning this opportunity into action will clearly resonate across the CCSI and benefit EU member states, not only economically, but also in terms of their transformative capacity, creative and innovative edge, and societal resilience.

#NamePlaceFund represents over 1,200 institutions involved in artistic and cultural research and cultural heritage in Europe. Everyone is welcome to join the campaign.

Find out more about how to get involved through our info packages: 

  • Info package one – create public awareness through social media and reach out to members of the European Parliament; 
  • Info package two – reach out to your national government.