Detained without trial since August 2024 as he was visiting China, sculptor Gao Zhen was brought befrore a closed court yesterday. Its verdict is not known. Gao's crime? "Defaming national heroes and martyrs" in his satirical sculptures depicting Mao Zedong.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
Pavel Krisevich, a political performance artist from St Petersburg, has been forced out of Russia after being re-arrested multiple times, most recently in December, following his release from prison in January 2025.
buff.ly/Bs90Ztu
Freemuse is watching with deep concern as the situation in Iran continues to deteriorate. Iran has long been at the forefront of our advocacy, and the current escalation of violence is a tragedy we cannot ignore. We remain committed to monitoring developments whenever possible #iran #artisticfreedom
Freemuse joins the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk in calling for the dropping of charges against Jung Yoon-suk www.icfr.international/cases/drop-c...
The fast-paced cycle of policy changes, executive actions, and judicial rulings makes it hard to stay up-to-date on what’s happening within art institutions. So we compiled a month-by-month recap of how US politics impacted the cultural sector in 2025.
18 December 2025, on the occasion of minorities day - Freemuse and its partners announce the launch of the fifth edition of the International Contest for Minority Artists (2026). The 2026 theme of the Contest is War and Reconciliation.
www.freemuse.org/internationa...
ArtsEquator has quietly launched RADAR, the first searchable archive of its kind tracking artistic restrictions across Southeast Asia. Covering six countries and over 800 cases since 2010, RADAR goes beyond monitoring violations.
Read the article here: www.freemuse.org/resisting-er...
Freemuse joins people around the world in marking the United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, reaffirming their UN-recognised rights, including self-determination, the right of return, and an independent state free from occupation.
www.freemuse.org/creativity-u...
Today, Index and others call for the release of Algerian poet #MohamedTadjadit ahead of upcoming court dates. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty. Tadjadit is being persecuted for his poetry and peaceful activism. All charges must be dropped:
www.indexoncensorship.org/2025/11/join...
Ahead of upcoming court dates on 11 and 30 November 2025, Freemuse joins local, regional and international organisations to reiterate their calls on the Algerian authorities to drop all charges and release poet and activist Mohamed Tadjadit and his 12 co-defendants.
www.freemuse.org/free-mohamed...
A court has overturned the ban on “Turn and See Back: Revisiting Trans Revolutions in Türkiye”, an exhibition hosted last summer at Depo, one of Istanbul’s leading independent art spaces.
Read the full article here: www.freemuse.org/a-fragile-vi...
#ArtisticFreedom #Türkiye
Freemuse joins other international human rights and cultural organisations to express deep concern over the deteriorating human rights landscape in the United Republic of Tanzania and its direct, stifling impact on the creative sector.
The Day of the Dead on 2 November is a tradition observed across Latin America, honouring deceased loved ones and celebrating their lives. This year, Freemuse joins the celebration as an act of resistance and a testament to memory serving artistic freedom.
www.freemuse.org/day-of-the-d...
Introducing Khalid Albaih - Arts category nominee for this year’s Freedom of Expression Awards! Albaih is a Sudanese independent political cartoonist renowned for his incisive human rights advocacy, shared globally under the name "Khartoon." Learn more: www.indexoncensorship.org/awards-2025-...
We are delighted to see our friend and ally Khalid Albaih recognised in the shortlist for this year’s Freedom of Expression Awards from Index on Censorship.
"[Musicians] demonstrate a new sincerity, a new honesty, that is a huge contrast against the awful cynicism of those in power.” An excellent piece on the Kremlin's unsuccessful attempts to suppress song.
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
Koalisi Seni, an Indonesian advocacy group for artistic freedom, has released a new report, Cerita Lama Berulang Kembali (Same Old, Same Old)—a decade-high. Of the sixty documented violations, more than half, thirty-eight, were in music. Read the full article here:
www.freemuse.org/same-old-sam...
Freemuse welcomes the 11 September release of 52 political prisoners in Belarus, including artist Aljaksei Silenka. Yet 1,197 remain jailed as of 2 October. We call on the Belarusian authorities to free all unlawfully detained and end politically motivated persecution.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
🇪🇬 Cartoonist Ashraf Omar is still imprisoned 14 months after he was arrested. #freeAshrafOmar 🧵 4/7
🇹🇷 Zehra Ömeroğlu finally receives the Robert Russell Courage in Cartooning Award at Lakes International Comic Art Festival. 🧵 3/7
Read Emma Shapiro's article in Hyperallergic on the Freemuse report on artistic freedom, alongside Article 19's Global Expression report. hyperallergic.com/1043369/new-...
Slovenian artist Maja Smrekar is suing right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party for misusing her performance art, K-9_topology: Hybrid Family, in a referendum campaign. She is defending artistic freedom and reflecting on increasing pressure for self-censorship.
www.freemuse.org/maja-smrekar...
Webinar: Human Rights and the Production of Disaggregated Data on Roma
22 September 4:00 PM (CET)
Language: English and Spanish
This webinar aims to strengthen efforts to generate and use disaggregated data on human rights and Roma communities.
Agenda, register and background at tinyurl.com/y97mbea7
The International Association of Art Critics (AICA International) urges Germany to protect artistic freedom while combating antisemitism, warning that current practices risk fostering de facto censorship and self-censorship in the cultural sector.
aicainternational.news/agora/2025/9...
OPEN CALL: To the Kids Who Live - an online exhibition of work created in solidarity with Palestine. Curated by Bosla Arts’ artist-in-residence Rand Hamdallah!
Deadline 30 September 2025 🎨
Learn more & apply: www.boslaarts.com/blog/open-ca...
The International Association of Art Critics (AICA International) expresses deep concern and protests the recent conviction of cultural manager Sebastián Coronel, head of the independent space La Chispa in Asunción, Paraguay.
Read the statement here:
aicainternational.news/agora/2025/8...
