The Complex arts centre in Smithfield will shut after a final emergency meeting between Dublin City Council (DCC) and the Arts Council yesterday afternoon proved unsuccessful in preventing its closure.
Having been served with a notice to quit in early December, operators and supporters of The Complex spent the past month campaigning and calling for urgent Government action to save the facility. On December 17th, a petition with more than 15,000 signatures appealing for State intervention was delivered to Leinster House. The organisation’s lease expired at midnight on Wednesday.
With the property owners seeking to sell the site, a multimillion-euro capital acquisition was required to keep The Complex open. Despite management liaising with DCC, the Department of Culture and the Department of Public Expenditure, no solution was found.
Based in an old fruit factory, the centre houses 18 studios, a large warehouse performance space and a gallery. It was known for championing a diverse range of artists and audiences.
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On Thursday, artistic director of The Complex Vanessa Fielding said the centre was closing “following the failure of Government and Dublin City Council to secure a viable resolution for an arts organisation that has operated continuously in the north west inner city for 18 years”.
In a statement on Instagram she said: “Despite prolonged engagement and repeated assurances, no workable solution was delivered. The loss of The Complex represents a failure of cultural policy, accountability, and long-term planning within the public system.”
She said the outcome was “in direct contradiction to stated commitments to support Irish arts, cultural employment, and equitable access to cultural life in Dublin”.
In a statement on Wednesday, DCC said it had been in daily contact with The Complex for more than a month regarding the expiry of the arts centre’s lease, which it said had been extended several times over the last two years.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Ray McAdam wrote to the building owner seeking a further extension to the lease, but they did not grant the request.
Paying tribute to the high standard of arts programming, community engagement and studio provision provided by The Complex, DCC said it’s engagement with the centre had been “long-term and twofold: supporting the board in its case to Government for funding to secure their tenure in the event of sale and redevelopment of their premises and providing programme funding through the Area Office and Arts Office”.
“The Complex capital development challenge was daunting given the physical size of the building and site involved and exceeded €11 million. Most importantly, as the building is privately owned, neither the council nor any Government department can play any role unless invited to do so.”
DCC acknowledged the closure would have a negative impact on artists, audiences and the local area and said it would continue to support The Complex as it searched for alternative accommodation. It also said it would “engage with any future development on this site in the hope of retaining the cultural use involved as set out in the development plan”.
Earlier this week the Department of Public Expenditure said it “agrees annual estimates for Government departments but does not fund projects that are the responsibility of another Government department, eg cultural and arts expenditure”.
A Department of Culture spokesperson said annual support, including programming and revenue supports, “is provided to arts and culture centres by local authorities and the Arts Council. The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport provides grants as a contribution towards maintaining and enhancing existing arts and culture facilities but does not provide funding for the purchase of buildings.”
