Suzanne Breen in court

Journalist Suzanne Breen appears in a Belfast court today in an attempt to protect her sources. Read more here

‘Banned’ poet becomes first female laureate

Carol Ann Duffy, whose poem ‘Education for Leisure’ was withdrawn from schoolbooks over fears it encouraged violence, has been appointed the UK’s first female poet laureate. Read more here

art and the message

A quick round up of some shows I visited in the latter part of this year that I would like to mention. Palestine Monologues at Arcola Theatre is the latest in a series of rehearsed readings of testimories (Asylum Monolgues, Rendition Monologues) was a gruelling precursor to Welcome to Ramallah, also at the Arcola. Along with Now or Later at the Royal Court it has led me to coin a new genre — Necessary Theatre — theatre written by people who understand theatre as deeply as the subject they write about, presenting a really clear and accessible exposition of complex subjects without being worthy — I need this kind of theatre.

DV8’s show at National Theatre, To Be Straight With You, suffered at the strangulating hands of its message, which managed to almost entirely squeeze the life out of the show — quite an achievement given how dynamic the dancers and the visuals were.

Autograph’s exhibition Disposable People at Southbank is a deeply moving and significant reminder that despite the pretensions to celebrate 200th anniversary of its abolition, slavery is alive and well in the modern world.

From slavery to freedom, also at Southbank Speechless moved me in quite a very different way. The young poets were so alive and expressive and their simple unpretentious show perhaps achieved the true synthesis of form and content, art and message where for each poet their act of poetry is itself an act of freedom. The iceandfire/Amnesty International ‘Protect the Human’ playwriting competition was judged last week and the winner was ‘After the Accident’ by Julian Armitstead.

Sticks ‘n’ stones may break my bones

On Sunday I was invited to the London Regional Meeting of UK Youth Parliament at Tower Hamlets Town Hall to give a brief presentation about freedom of expression. This was triggered by an article in Debatable UKYP’s magazine stating that 90 per cent of young people surveyed say there are no safe places to discuss issues around terrorism and violent extremism. These concerns fall well within the remit of the youth programme we are developing at Index on Censorship, and I set up yesterday’s meeting as a way to introduce Index’s work. I presented a series of 10 statements relating to freedom of expression to around 40 Young Members of Parliament (YMP) and some youth workers and asked everyone to record whether they agreed, disagreed or were not sure about each statement. This survey was followed by some discussion and interestingly within the group of people average age 15-and-a-half, pretty much every shade of opinion towards freedom of expression was represented. Here are some of the outcomes of the survey:

‘I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in and going after your dreams.’ (Madonna) Agree 90 per cent Not sure 2 per cent Disagree 7 per cent

‘I may not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.’(attributed to Voltaire 1694-1778) Agree: 68 per cent Not sure: 15 per cemt Disagree: 17 per cent

‘Sticks’n’stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.’
(Children’s playground rhyme) Agree: 31 per cent Not sure: 19 per cent Disagree: 48 per cent

‘Self-censorship is a reasonable demand in a world of varied and passionately held convictions.’ Shabbir Akhtar Agree: 43 per cent Not sure: 43 per cent Disagree: 7 per cent Abstention: 4 per cent

‘If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.’ (George Orwell 1903 – 1950) Agree: 63 per cent Not sure: 21 per cent Disagree: 7 per cent

‘In a plural society, it is both inevitable and important that people offend others.# (Kenan Malik) Agree: 32 per cent Not sure: 41 per cent Disagree: 24 per cent Abstention: 4 per ceny

On the Internet: ‘It is our duty to create a free uncensored environment for the public’s unhindered expression of its opinions and thoughts.’ (Iran Proxy –– anti Internet censorship group Iran) Agree:41 per cent Not sure: 41 per cent Disagree: 7 per cent Abstention: 9 per cent

‘A free society …must not concern itself with the state of its citizens’ sensibilities.’ (Oliver Kamm) Agree: 9 per cent Not sure: 41 per cent Disagree: 41 per cent Abstention: 9 per cent

‘I’m free!!’ (Rolling Stones) Agree: 34 per cent Not sure: 39 per cent Disagree: 31 per cent Abstention: 5 per cent

Asked if they thought that everyone in UK enjoyed the right to freedom of expression 73 per cent said no. Finally 78 per cent welcomed more discussion and debate about freedom of expression.

Last night I went to Theatre Royal Stratford East to see a piece of work in progress by State of the Nation a youth drama group led by Carolos and Tunde (both were absent with fever/colds) who had worked with Afro Reggae in the favelas of Rio. The work was about postcode wars and used the increasingly popular devices of verbatim theatre. The young people were exceptional, open, confident, talented and commited to the ethos that the arts can transform society which motivates Afro Reggae’s work. This ethos drives a massive movement of youth arts that takes on the most demanding and complex issues in Brazil and UK, espeically where violence, poverty and drugs intersect.

Belarus Free Theatre runner up in Freedom to Create prize

We are delighted that Belarus Free Theatre (BFT) nominated by Index for the ArtVenture Freedom to Create prize wre runners up in the main prize category of the inaugural awards. Tom Stoppard, a long-time supporter of the theatre company, handed them the cheque for $15,000 to be shared with Charter 97 in recognition of their tenacious and deeply committed work to oppose the last dictatorship in Europe. The winner of the prize was Cont Mhlanga whose work, like BFT’s brings with it great personal danger, but sees the prize as providing a degree of protection against the extremes of censorship, as his works gains in international profile.

Hopefully this is the case, though popularity and recognition both at home and abroad has not protected Zarganar who won the artist in prison award, from being handed the harshest sentences only days after being given 45 years sentence by the Burmese Government, a term that has since been increased to 59 years. Index on Censorship is part of a working party including Equity, International Pen, A19 and ArtVenture, looking at how to support the artist and his family in the face of such an extreme sentence. A group of young rappers from the favellas of Recife, purported to be the most violent city in Brazil, called City of Rhyme won the youth category. The awards have, as anticipated, brought together the most exciting and dynamic range of artists working to support freedom of expression around the world and ArtVenture is already setting its sights on next years prize.

Detained Sri Lankan journalist moved to army prison

On 18 November, journalist JS Tissainayagam, currently on trial before the High Court under the country’s Terrorism Act, was moved to the notorious Magazine prison in Colombo after more than 150 days in detention.

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Hello from Index Arts

By way of an introduction to this entry, I am going to start a regular blog about the work of Index Arts. This has been an almost totally static page for far too long but things are going to change. I plan to let you know what I am doing in the programme and share some thoughts on shows I see around town. I welcome your comments and responses. So let’s get going.

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Freedom to Create Prize

The ArtVenture Freedom to Create Prize has been launched to recognise artists who use their talents to promote creative freedom, empathy, understanding and to confront discrimination and oppression. This unique and significant creative award carries a US$100,000 prize divided between three categories — the main prize, a youth prize and a prize to recognise imprisoned artists.

Submissions for the prize close on 31 October, 2008

For more info, click here

Imagine Art After: update

The open call for artists & filmmakers closed on 1 July 2008. We received applications from artists & filmmakers from 30 countries, and we thank all organisations and persons who have assisted us in distributing our open call around the world.

We are currently in the process of selecting artists & filmmakers to participate in the 2009 dialogues, and will announce and introduce the artist pairs as and when they are all confirmed.

www.imagineartafter.net

Imagine art after: OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS & FILMMAKERS

The open call for artists & filmmakers closed on 1 July 2008. We received applications from artists & filmmakers from 30 countries, and we thank all organisations and persons who have assisted us in distributing our open call around the world.

We are currently in the process of selecting artists & filmmakers to participate in the 2009 dialogues, and will announce and introduce the artist pairs as and when they are all confirmed.

www.imagineartafter.net

Curated by Breda Beban, imagine art after is a multi-stage project for internet, gallery & broadcast that brings together artists and filmmakers who made a home in London with those who stayed in their country of origin.

For its second edition, imagine art after is looking for artists and filmmakers from the following places, who either live there, or in London.

Afghanistan | Albania | Algeria | Angola | Bangladesh | Cameroon | China | Colombia | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Former USSR | Gambia | Ghana | India | Iran | Iraq | Ivory Coast | Jamaica | Kenya | Libya | Nigeria | Pakistan | Palestinian Authority | Romania | Serbia | Sierra Leone | Somalia | Sri Lanka | Sudan | Syria | Turkey | Uganda | Vietnam | Zimbabwe

Click here for application pack

For more information and an application pack, go to www.imagineartafter.net, or email info@imagineartafter.net

DEADLINE 1 JUNE 2008

Welcome to Index Arts

Index Arts is a specialist arm of Index on Censorship, working in all art forms to promote and support freedom of artistic and cultural expression for disempowered, under- and mis-represented or silenced communities and individuals, both in this country and around the world.

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imagine art after: a new foray into artistic freedom of expression

imagine art after is the first project to be produced by Index Arts, Index on Censorship magazine’s new foray into the world of public art, an innovative online project that will open new opportunities to support freedom of expression in the visual arts.

Based on the programme’s early promise, Index Arts now has ambitious plans to turn the event into a regular feature, held every four years, in which an online dialogue will lead to an actual exhibition—the first exhibition being planned for early 2007.

Curator Breda Beban an exile from the former Yugoslavia envisages it as an alternative version of Dokumenta, the giant exhibition of modern visual art held in Kassel, Germany.

She and Index Arts producer Julia Farrington, are, as they put it “inviting artists who live at the hard edge of political change to take the temperature on the contemporary world”.

Farrington recognized some time ago that the internet is the perfect tool for bringing together displaced people who are culturally related but geographically separated.

The idea for imagine art after came into being the moment Julia discussed it with Beban, a practicing artist and professor of fine art at Sheffield Hallam University, who recognized the potential to explore some key themes.

“Expanding on the notion that when we are born we are genetically coded but then become a work in progress, imagine art after presents artists originating from the same country who are now geo-politically separated,” says Beban.

Subsequently Jo Confino, executive editor of Guardian Newspapers, Jane Glentworth at Guardian Unlimited and Henderson Mullin at Index on Censorship came on board to make it happen. GU arts editor Andy Dickson lead the design team to create the pages as you can see them today: an online exhibition with dialogue between the artist who stayed and the artist who left.

Artists who are refugees based in London have been coupled with an artist from their country of origin. They will use images, text and video to embark on a journey to produce work, exchange views and engage in dialogue, shared with some of Guardian Unlimited’s seven million online readers.

“imagine.art.after,! says Beban, “is an exhibition about the proximity of art and life against the backdrop of contemporary world politics.” It’s a natural partnership for the magazine, founded in 1972 by writers, journalists and artists inspired by the British poet Stephen Spender to take to the page in defense of the basic human right of free expression.

Index Arts is now planning a full programme of events that will both shape and connect the main programme every four years. The project will map a constantly shifting artistic and political landscape. All participating artists are from one of the list of 35 countries whose citizens make the most applications for asylum in the UK.

“The list of 35 countries that formed the pool from which the chosen countries have come, will change,” notes Beban. “The list is a map of unrest and the map will change. Which countries will join and which will drop off?”

See the imagine art after pages on the Guardian Online website.