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In Tbilisi, exhibitions are closing. The organisations that funded them are shutting down. Artists are leaving. The dismantling of Georgia’s cultural life has come gradually, and it is not finished. Lali Pertenava watches it from the inside. A curator, researcher, founder of the… more ›
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In Chengdu, in southwest China, in late 2022, people gathered on a street by a river. Most wearing masks and dark clothing. Candles were lit. Blank sheets of A4 paper were out. Held at chest height. Raised overhead… The kind you might tear… more ›
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Billboard ads, socks, plates, even kickboxing: are these really matters of artistic freedom? The boundary is more blurred than it seems. What is clear is that threats to creative expression rarely arrive in clean, visible lines. They move quietly. Under-reported incidents. Weak reporting systems. People… more ›
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Imagine a smart, cheeky report with a playful visual language. Nothing like the typical output of human-rights groups. But, its harmless-looking cover, belies its contents. Koalisi Seni, an Indonesian advocacy group for artistic freedom, has just released Cerita Lama Berulang Kembali (Same Old, Same Old). Inside:… more ›
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Slovenian artist Maja Smrekar is suing the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), for misusing her work – a performance in which she breastfed her puppy – during a referendum campaign on pension reforms. In a video interview from her studio in Ljubljana, she speaks with… more ›
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“In 1955, a secret unit, the Information Research Department (IRD) of the UK Foreign Office (FO) began delivery of Bellman Books around the world. However, there is no detailed research on this book series. This chapter examines Bellman Books as a form of cultural diplomacy… more ›
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In Türkiye today, there is deep anxiety. The media is widely distrusted by many, while the political environment grows more oppressive for those who question the government. All of this has been unfolding against the backdrop of a troubled economy – after peaking… more ›
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“Don’t mention the war,” warns a character in Nathan Englander’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, as she addresses her husband. But that didn’t stop him – just as it hasn’t stopped many artists worldwide creating work on the… more ›
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On Music Freedom Day we remember the long and fraught struggle of Kurdish musicians in Türkiye. For decades, Kurdish artistic expression was systematically suppressed under a national policy that enforced a singular Turkish identity. Music, literature, cinema, and theatre in Kurdish were banned, their… more ›
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Parvin Ardalan, born in Tehran to a Kurdish family, has spent decades at the forefront of Iran’s feminist movement. A journalist, writer, and activist, she co-founded the One Million Signatures Campaign in 2006, a daring initiative to challenge the country’s discriminatory laws against women. Her… more ›