Is a passion for freedom under attack in the arts?
Is a passion for freedom under attack in the arts?
The latest Arts First podcast talks to Agnieszka Kolek and Manick Govinda on the struggle for artistic freedom in Poland.
Arts First is the podcast that challenges the contemporary view of the arts as tools for social change; highlights how freedom of expression is compromised by political activism and institutional cowardice; explores what is unique and special about the arts; and celebrates new artistic achievement and courage in the face of today’s challenges.
Freedom of expression is a core theme of this podcast series. And, although it is a central principle of Western democracy, a censorious climate is undermining it. The arts world should be a space for experimentation and freedom, but has become increasingly influenced by an ‘I find that offensive’ mentality. Artists who express ideas that run counter to dominant tropes in social media can often find themselves cancelled and blocked.
In this latest episode, Wendy Earle interviews Manick Govinda and Agnieszka Kolek about their experiences in defending and promoting freedom in the arts. Agnieszka is a co-founder of Passion for Freedom, an organisation founded in 2009 to curate festivals of artists who have faced censorship and cancellation. She has organised events in London, Denmark, Poland and New York. Manick Govinda is a curator and writer working in contemporary art, and he also mentors new artists. Since openly supporting the campaign to leave the EU, he has found himself increasingly ostracised in the art world.
Agnieszka and Manick talk first about their experience of censorship in the arts in Europe and the work of Passion for Freedom, and then about their work in Warsaw, Poland - where they had an opportunity to put the principles of freedom of expression into practice as the co-curators of ‘Culture Tensions’ at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art from January 2022 until February 2024. Things have shifted since the change of government in Poland at the last parliamentary General Election held on 15 October 2023, where the ruling Law & Justice Party (PiS) was eventually defeated by the formation of a new ruling coalition government led by Donald Tusk. Cancel culture in Poland is not new - many artists were censored, lost their jobs and silenced under Communist rule. But the new government began a programme of ‘settling accounts’, ousting cultural leaders from public sector jobs. This ‘revenge politics’, they argue, led to the dismissal of the Ujazdowski Castle’s director, Piotr Bernatowicz, and his three deputy directors this summer. The new interim director announced that ‘due to the changes in the programme of the [Ujazdowski Castle], we decided that the Culture Tensions project does not fit into it’.
The Culture Tensions programme is online - for now - and can be accessed on YouTube. From 2021 until the summer of 2024, the Ujazdowski Castle was a beacon of free expression, reshaping Poland's cultural landscape away from the usual tropes of globalist, social-justice oriented contemporary art that has gripped most of the West. Many artists, writers and curators from the UK and US who were cancelled in the West were invited to discuss pertinent issues around arts, culture and politics, to curate exhibitions and exhibit their art at this prestigious centre for contemporary art.
Listen to Wendy, Agnieszka and Manick in conversation on the latest Arts First podcast:
DISCUSS THE ARTS AT THE BATTLE OF IDEAS FESTIVAL
At the Battle of Ideas festival this year, we’ll be spending a day discussing all things related to the arts world. Get your tickets to the Battle now, with discounts on offer and free tickets for anyone wanting to join our volunteering team.
Sessions included in our Arts and Culture strand:
It seems that JS Bach has fallen out of favour with many Music academics and in some universities. While some fight back by asserting that Bach and his companions in the canon are unassailable accomplishments of Western civilisation, is it enough to treat classical works with uncritical reverence? How can we judge an exemplary work like his St John Passion? Need we defend Bach the man to celebrate his music? Can we champion the transcendental quality of Western classical music against politicised opposition, indifference or claims of irrelevance?
Is it possible to argue for artistic freedom in literature in a world where authors are literally stabbed for daring to write the ‘wrong thing’? Do we as readers need to argue for a more open and hands-off approach from publishers and printers? And in all the rowing about who and what is allowed to be published, is anything good getting through?
What are the standards for ‘great’ art? Has the drive to include diverse artists created a new hierarchy, one in which the public is led by identity rather than excellence? Should we scrap the canon altogether, and embrace the notion that art is a subjective experience? And if standards are still useful in art appreciation and the education of a new generation of artists, what should they be, and who should decide them?
Is nothing sacred anymore? Are iconic works of art legitimate targets of protest when they draw attention to the potential destruction of our planet? Why do even self-professed art lovers feel it is necessary to denigrate great artworks or undermine the legitimacy of their creators? Should museums defend the traditions underpinning their collections or join the critics in weaponising them for the contemporary Culture Wars?
How should we value education in the arts? Do arguments for mental health or national economies imply that an arts education exists solely to facilitate social or economic ends? Schools are asked to prepare pupils for an uncertain economic future while navigating time and budget constraints. Against this backdrop, is it possible to justify dedicating scarce resources to the arts, which many deem ‘non-essential’? Is an instrumental approach the only way to save the arts, or is it time to reignite the case for art for art’s sake?
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