The Impact Network Culture, Heritage and the Arts is there to support existing contacts with the cultural field and stimulate new partnerships. Utrecht University has a lively landscape of research groups and projects on themes ranging from (im)material visual, literary and musical heritage and memory studies
to patronage and audience relations, game, performance, and media research

CHAIN aims to make these projects more visible, link them together where possible and tap into new collaborations with the field. The network rests on three pillars:

Cultural Heritage

Cultural heritage is central to social and cultural change CHAIN sheds new light on controversial (colonial) heritage and questions of diversity and inclusion. Heritage is not only a preserved past, but also a source of resilience and inspiration, with a crucial role in shaping social justice and collective identity.

Culturele Instituties

Public and private institutions strongly influence the cultural world: they determine values attributed to art, influence canonization and contribute to (in)equality. What are the ethical aspects of cultural funding and what is its impact on the cultural system? By stimulating new collaborations with institutions in the field of the arts, CHAIN together with its partners aims to contribute to an inclusive cultural system in which there is room for reflection and change.

Creative Industry

The creative industries are a breeding ground for creative and sometimes economic innovation, but also an area in which many workers have to work under precarious conditions. How do artists and other workers in the creative industries deal with such precarity and economic inequality while maintaining their artistic freedom? CHAIN supports researchers pursuing inclusive collaborations and sustainable practices with societal partners. In this way, the network aims to contribute to a just and permanently innovative creative industry.