John is a native of Belfast and is delighted to be awarded this honour. Over the past four years he and his team from the Netherlands have worked closely with local communities on the Shankill and North Belfast to establish an arts program in the area—ArtEZ recently launched the Shankill School of Art, described as a ‘site specific college’.

In the past two years he has worked closely with QCAP and as UNESCO Chair, John and the team from the Netherlands look forward to deepening this partnership and connecting with other research entities in Morocco and the Netherlands.  

The Chair stated:

'QCAP offer incredible expertise and passion to connect academic research with the arts in order to reach into and learn from what are often described as marginalised and unheard communities.  As UNESCO Chair I share this passion and through our existing work in North and West Belfast we are committed to developing our work around the values driven research and education. Respect, reciprocity and ethics of care are core principles that lead our work.'

 

On receiving the title, John extends his gratitude to Prof Higgins, Niki McKnight, Dr Gareth Robinson and the team at QCAP for their ongoing support during the application process and looks now forward to the multiple opportunities that will emerge out of the partnership. 

More details of the appointment are available here.