We run cultural initiatives and buildings across the city with, and for, the people of Dublin.
We collaborate with people, communities, cultural organisations, businesses, and Dublin City Council to embed cultural experiences and increase cultural participation throughout Dublin. What we mean by culture
We believe that culture is everything we do and everything we are. The way culture is experienced is unique to each and every one of us.
Culture is the way we live our lives: it is who we spend time with, the places we go, how we celebrate, question, mourn and come together; it is our daily lives. Culture is in our homes, parks, streets, food, words, songs and actions. Culture grows and changes with our everyday lives. We know that it helps us understand and reimagine the world in which we live. Culture is everyone.
How we do it
We add expertise
We want to create impact and we believe that if we bring our method to a project, it adds value. When projects and ideas spark our curiosity, we assess our opportunity to contribute and how best we can focus our expertise in supporting cultural participation. Our method puts people firmly at the centre of our work. We designed it specifically to support cultural habit forming behaviour and connections between people and place.
We collaborate
We work together to ensure quality in all that we do. We are committed to working through co-creation with participants and cooperation with partners. We emphasise inclusion and participation. We apply our strengths and seek additional expertise when needed.
We listen
We deliver dedicated programmes of listening through a team of skilled experts who, through continuous engagement, learn what’s important to the people of Dublin. What we hear forms the backbone of relevant and meaningful programming.
We are motivated
We want to provide opportunities for people to try out their own ideas. We make programmes that allow us to use our expertise in meaningful ways. We act to ensure that the programmes and activities we work on create new ‘ways in’ to culture for people - building cultural habits and increasing cultural confidence.
We build
We create pathways within and across our programmes, and those of our cultural partners. We make cultural activities more openly accessible and approachable. This includes bringing culture to places where it’s not usually perceived to be and connecting people who wouldn’t normally see themselves as involved with culture.
We respond
We create responsive programming by responding to what people tell us through the development of our programmes, projects, and activities. We are agile; we listen and respond to people’s feedback to ensure our work remains relevant.
What some of our work looks like:
Culture Connects
We want to open up ways for people to experiment with all kinds of culture.
Culture Connects is a year-round programme that invites people in Dublin to try out new things. We offer ways for people to make and create together, to share ideas and connect through culture and conversation.
Creative Residencies
I love the inclusive atmosphere in Richmond Barracks, the choice of workshops are brilliant, it is a lovely welcoming space where people from the community can come together and learn new skills and hobbies... thank you. Culture Connects participant
They got a lot out of it, they all love doing creative things but it’s nice to see them gelling together over something like this.
Creative Residencies community partner
14 Henrietta Street
We create partnerships to try out ideas, test new approaches and add to the cultural story of the city.
Creative Residencies encourage makers and experts to pilot new reciprocal partnerships with organisations. By bringing creative people and organisations together, and by connecting through culture and conversations, we will develop and share new ways of working.
We protect, share and add to the cultural life of the city. We tell stories, make connections and uncover history.
14 Henrietta Street is a social history museum of Dublin life, from one building’s Georgian beginnings to its tenement times. We connect the history of urban life over 300 years to the stories of the people who called this place home.
Our guided tours bring to life the stories of the humans who lived in the house, their changing circumstances, their experience of family life, of politics, and the impact of world affairs.
Extremely educational, moving, and unexpected! In 10 days spent travelling across the country, this was by far the most surprising and interesting museum.
14 Henrietta Street visitor
Culture Connects
Cultural Audit & Map
We have built a database and map of Dublin’s culture.
The Cultural Audit and Map adds to Dublin City Council’s knowledge base to inform decisions by the city council departments, planners and strategists.
Cultural information about the city on the map includes: arts and heritage, parks and nature, sport and fitness, food, hobbies, community involvement and education, as well as artists and makers who call Dublin home.
This intelligence project is also a public resource, a website called Culture Near You, that makes the city’s cultural buildings, organisations and networks easier to find and connect with.
Culture Club
We invite people to see, experience and learn about Dublin’s cultural places.
Culture Club is a series of hosted talks, tours and activities that introduce and encourage people to connect with the cultural spaces of the city.
Working closely with our partners, we open up new ways for people to access cultural activity more easily and confidently in order to develop and expand their cultural habits.
This project has lifted the heart, soul and minds of people in this community and given voice to those who are seldom heard.
Creative Residencies partner
Collaboration
I liked the mix of interactive discussion and information and especially the fact that we were given the chance to look at, and talk about, some works without any prior knowledge before being given some background information. Culture Club participant
As recognised leaders in cultural programming and spaces, we want to continue making a meaningful impact on how people connect with culture and their communities through cultural participation and cultural experiences.
Alongside sustaining, growing and delivering these and other programmes, we continue to support the development and delivery of Dublin City Council programmes, projects and buildings, working closely with several sections throughout the council.
Culture
Why we do it
Our vision is a Dublin where creativity and access to culture builds lasting connections between people and the place they live.
What guides our work
We are led by our values. They guide what we do and how we do it.
Inclusion and Accessibility
• We encourage everyone to be involved to achieve wider cultural participation in Dublin.
I walked out feeling so privileged to have had such an incredibly rich and humbling learning experience. Much respect and gratitude to the passionate museum staff and all Dubliners - thank you. 14 Henrietta Street visitor “ ”
• We create meaningful and enduring cultural connections by focusing on programme accessibility and sustainability.
Connection and Collaboration
• We collaborate with artists, communities and organisations. Together we develop and expand cultural skills.
• We open up new ways for people to access cultural activity more easily and confidently to develop their cultural habits.
Engagement and Excellence
• We ensure our programmes are relevant and meaningful to all by continuously engaging with the people of Dublin.
• We strive for excellence in everything we do.
Our Strategy
In our Company Strategy (2025 to 2030) we have identified the three key foundation stones on which all our work is built:
How People Experience It
Our focus is on how people engage with our work, with an emphasis on CONNECTION, PARTICIPATION and QUALITY
How We Make It
Our organisational structure and the way we operate is centred around ACCESSIBILITY, SUSTAINABILITY, and PARTNERSHIP, which make up the key building blocks of the Culture Company.
How It Creates Long-Term Impact
Our work is dedicated to achieving long-term value and impact through CULTURAL CONFIDENCE, LEARNING, and ADVOCACY.
Who we are
Dublin City Council Culture Company was incorporated in 2018. We are wholly owned by Dublin City Council and registered as an independent not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee with a governing Board of Directors and Constitution.
The constitution of our company states our objective as follows: “To create and deliver cultural initiatives in Dublin City and to initiate, implement and manage cultural programmes and buildings for the benefit of the people of Dublin.”
E info@dublincitycouncilculturecompany.ie www.dublincitycouncilculturecompany.ie
Thank you for visiting us. Definitely you made us know many things that we could not know about each other or did not ask about each other before. Thanks a lot. Culture Connects participant “ ”
This building and area are completely new to me, I had no idea it was so big and that all of this was inside. Sometimes with a place like this you see a closed door or a security person and think it’s not really for you or you can’t go in. Culture Club participant “ ”
Comhlacht Cultúir Chomhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath
Dublin City Council Culture Company
Follow us on: www.dublincitycouncilculturecompany.ie
