Detainees and Disappeared: Art Documents and Archives Speak

The archive project Creative Memory of the Syrian Revolution presented a new book in Lebanon in September: Detainees and Disappeared: Art Documents and Archives Speak.

This book documents the problems of imprisonment and disappearance of people from the fields of art and culture between 2011 and 2020 in Syria on two levels. On one level, it traces the imprisonment, abduction, or killing under torture of artists and intellectuals who used their art to oppose the Syrian regime and all forms of oppression. This was particularly evident in the early years of the Syrian revolution. On the second level, various artistic works are presented that deal with those who were arrested or abducted for oppositional activities.

The book is available in Arabic from Antoine Publishers.

Cuts Planned for Culture in Germany 2025

Despite the fact that the budget for federal cultural funding in Germany is set to remain stable and even grow, massive cuts have been announced for the upcoming budget negotiations for 2025 in autumn. The funds of the five central funding foundations German Literature Fund – German Translators’ Fund – Performing Arts Fund-
Socioculture Fund – Music Fund – Art Fund Foundation – are to be halved. 

The Federal Humanitarian Admission Programme for Afghanistan, which came into force in 2022 and is intended to enable Afghan nationals who have been particularly exposed through their commitment to women’s and human rights or through their activities in the fields of justice, politics, media, education, culture, sport, or science and are therefore individually at risk to be able to leave for Germany, is also to be massively cut.  The programme was designed for 44,000 people to be admitted to Germany, 26,000 of whom had already arrived in October 2022. Two years later, only 533 people have been accepted into the programme. Artists make up around 20% of this. In Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, independent artistic creation is not possible. Artists are persecuted, especially women.
The government draft envisages massive cuts to the programme, making it almost impossible to continue it in a meaningful way. 

The Federal Cultural Funds have published a joint statement, while the German Cultural Council, the umbrella organisation of German cultural organisations, has appealed in its statement to Germany’s responsibility for artists in Afghanistan and called for action in the budget negotiations.

Sources (German):  Joint statement of the Federal Culture Funds,
Press release German Cultural Council 

Afghanistan Cultural Fund

The new established Afghanistan Cultural Fund (ACF) aims to support Afghan cultural workers, especially women. The fund provides assistance to Afghan artists both within the country and in the diaspora, enabling them to continue their creative work, protect cultural heritage, and preserve artistic expressions despite all adversities.

The  ACF is a project by the Goethe Institute, Germany, supported by  the Open Society Fund. 

For more information and application follow this link

Residencies for Palestinian Artists

The programme aims to support Palestinian artists residing in Jerusalem or the West Bank or originally from Gaza and living abroad, of various disciplines, generations, and origins, helping them develop  research and creation projects in contemporary arts.  A second call for applications is now open for 3 to 6-month residencies in France to be carried out at French cultural institutions venues and will take place between January 2025 and December 2025.  

Submission of applications until August 20th, 2024. The selection process will be coordinated by the French Institute of Jerusalem, in collaboration with the program partners. 

More information and application via this link.  

Russia (update): Six Years for “Finist, the Brave Falcon”

On Monday, June 8th, a military court in Moscow convicted theater director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk of terrorism charges and sentenced them to six years each in prison. Authorities claimed their Golden Mask awarded play “Finist, the Brave Falcon” justifies terrorism, in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison (see ACAR posts 1, 23, 4, 5 ).  Both have already been in custody for over a year, awaiting trial. 

Sources:  The Moscow Times , Fox News, TV5 Monde

On Freedom of Artistic Expression and Cultural Relativism

The German Institute for Foreign Relations (ifa) has published a paper that examines two major challenges to the defence of artistic freedoms: the insufficient discussion of “artistic freedom” in international legal fora and the insufficient use of the potential of international law to defend and promote artists’ rights. At its core, the input asks how the diverse cultural norms, traditions, and values in states should be reconciled with the universal imperative to protect artists’ rights? 

 

Andra Matei and Sanchit Saluja: The “Right to Freedom of Artistic Expression” and Cultural Relativism.  International Law Perspectives (PDF, eng)