Reading Room

The Create Reading Room is a unique resource for artists, community workers, arts, civil society and NGO organisations and anyone with an interest in and passion for the potential of art to effect social change. It can be used as a research facility by students, Create members, artists and arts organisations or it can simply be a space to view the range of work inspired by collaborative arts practices. We now offer an online catalogue, referencing the publications and resources in the Reading Room. Our collection is constantly growing, and new materials are added regularly.

In 2019 and 2020 Create worked with Artist Curator Megs Morley to further develop our archive of collaborative practice and reading room.

In June 2020, Create established an online Discussion Group on Socially Engaged Collaborative Art.  The group met twice a month to read and discuss articles, films, and online exhibitions related to different aspects of collaborative, socially engaged arts practice and other relevant social issues.

In September 2022, Create welcomed Critical Friends, a network of professional practitioners with socially engaged, participatory and collaborative practices who have graduated at a Masters level, into a hybrid residency in the Create archive. and reading room. Initiated by a group of postgraduates from the MA in Socially Engaged Art and Further Education in NCAD, the group are interested in developing emerging practices through peer-to-peer support, dialogue and collaboration.

The residency is intended to be generative for Critical Friends, who will enter into a dialogue/ exchange with Create about the nature of emerging practice in the field. This Residency is not just about access to material but about a place to consider the politics and efficacies of such documentation.  Additionally, the group will consider what traces of the residency can be documented and developed into archival materials.

Access to the Create Reading Room is available to members and non-members by appointment only. Material is reference only but photocopying is available in accordance with the terms of copyright law.
To make an appointment, or for advice on our catalogue or stock contact janeorourke(at)create-ireland.ie or call 01-4736600.

If you have a query about a specific publication, call the Create office. If your organisation has documents or resources which you feel should be included in the Reading Room please contact us by phone or email.