In 2025, Dr Michela Dianetti and Dr Lucy Elvis worked with Baboró International Arts Festival for Children to gather feedback from children who attended the Baboró 2025 festival. Dr Dianetti and Dr Elvis then compiled their findings in a report, The Voice of the Child as a Critical Friend: Listening to Audiences through Philosophical Dialogue.

This research used the Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CPI) to capture and understand the experiences of children and young people attending the festival. Moving beyond standard evaluative approaches, the project positioned children as reflective participants capable of articulating what matters in their encounters with art.

Workshops took place in four primary schools in Galway city, involving eight classes who attended festival performances. These sessions enabled children to explore and articulate their responses through shared dialogue, while teacher interviews provided additional perspectives. The schools involved in this project were: Mercy Primary School, Merlin Woods Primary School, Knocknacarra Educate Together National School and Claddagh National School.

The findings demonstrate that the CPI can act as a powerful framework for:

• capturing children’s voices as meaningful and epistemically valuable,
• fostering reflective engagement with artistic experiences,
• informing artistic, educational and organisational practices.

Central to this approach is a commitment to decentring authority: the facilitator supports dialogue without directing its content, allowing children’s perspectives to emerge as critical and constructive contributions. In this sense, the CPI functions as a space where young audiences can act as ‘critical friends’, shaping the future of cultural institutions through thoughtful engagement.

If you would like a copy of the report please email schoolscoordinator@baboro.ie.