Free to create: artistic freedom in Europe: Council of Europe report on the freedom of artistic expression

By Sara Whyatt

“With democracy under great pressure, the key role of arts and culture as powerful means for maintaining constructive dialogue in democratic, diverse and open societies becomes ever more evident. The right to freedom of artistic expression is a key to this and ensures the pluralism and vitality of the democratic process.” (Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić)

This report gives a comprehensive overview of the challenges that European artists and cultural workers face in the practice of their right to freedom of artistic expression. These range from laws that curtail creative freedom, attacks from nongovernmental groups and online threats to the “under-the-radar” pressures that contribute to self-censorship.

It reflects the work carried out by the Council of Europe, other international intergovernmental organisations promoting freedom of expression and human rights, and non-governmental, civil society and cultural organisations concerned with both the rights of artists and cultural rights in general, as well as the experiences and perspectives of artists. It concludes with recommendations on what can be done to protect artistic freedom, by international institutions such as the Council of Europe and by the cultural sector and artists themselves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Council of Europe
• Release date: Apr 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9789287194077

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Restrictions on freedom of expression and artistic freedom affect the whole of society, bereaving it of its pluralism and the vitality of the democratic process. The ecosystem of artistic freedom affects education, cultural development, socio-economic standards, well-being, quality of life and social cohesion. ¹

On 10 November 2020 the Council of Europe Manifesto on the Freedom of Expression of Arts and Culture in the Digital Era was launched, drawn up as a contribution by the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape (CDCPP) to the 70th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) and in response to concerns about consistent and varied attacks on freedom of artistic expression in Europe, and to remind and encourage member states to uphold and protect this right. At the heart of the manifesto is the principle that freedom of expression and of artistic expression is a core human right that requires protection from attack and threat.

Endorsing the manifesto, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić, stated:

Freedom of artistic expression is part of freedom of expression, protected by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Manifesto on the Freedom of Expression of Arts and Culture in the Digital Era is a political commitment to promote the right of artists to express themselves freely even under difficult circumstances.

Freedom of artistic expression is facing growing pressure. More and more artists, experts and cultural professionals who hint at problems, spell out uncomfortable truths, make the unseen visible are subject to pressure, censorship, intimidation and harassment.

Moreover, the Covid-19 crisis has severely affected the working conditions and income of artists and the cultural and creative sector as a whole.

The Manifesto draws attention to these risks and sends a clear political signal to protect openness and creativity, which are essential ingredients of our democracies.²

Already under acute pressure when the manifesto was drawn up, artistic freedom remains under threat today, and has in some cases worsened under multiple challenges – political extremism, economic collapse, a global pandemic, threats from digitisation, an emerging environmental catastrophe and the return of war within Europe – all crises with major impacts on human rights across society. As Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić wrote in her 2021 Annual report: With democracy under great pressure, the key role of arts and culture as powerful means for maintaining constructive dialogue in democratic and open societies becomes ever more evident. The right to freedom of artistic expression is a key to this and ensures the pluralism and vitality of the democratic process.³ In these worrying times, many rights are under stress, among them artistic expression, making it doubly important to continue to monitor the state of artistic freedom and find solutions to ameliorate areas of its decline.

Artists, artistic mobility and artistic freedom are strategic resources for society, able to help overcome fragmentation and addressing today’s global challenges. (Bjørn Berge, Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General)⁴

Considering this, it is time to review the state of play in the field of artistic freedom, record the extent and patterns of suppression of artistic freedom, identify good practices, advise on what measures need to be taken to address existing problems and find solutions for the future.

In July 2022, 20 artists and cultural practitioners – visual and performance artists, writers and cultural commentators – from 12 European countries met at the Bunker cultural centre in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The aim was to discover their perspectives on artistic freedom where they are based and work and to feed these into this study. The meeting exposed the wide range of elements that prevent artists from across Europe from fully expressing and sharing their creativity. These included the above the radar attacks, such as imprisonment, physical threat and litigation, as well as the more prevalent and widespread yet less evident under-the-radar pressures that create a subtle climate of repression that blocks artists in their creativity or leads them to self-censorship.

This report reflects, inter alia, the work carried out by the Council of Europe, other regional and international intergovernmental organisations promoting freedom of expression and human rights, and by non-governmental, civil society and cultural organisations concerned with artists’ and cultural rights, as well as the experiences and perspectives of the artists who came together in Ljubljana. It reviews the patterns of abuse of freedom of artistic expression and developments in relevant legislation, monitoring and advocacy. It concludes with recommendations for what we can all do to protect artistic freedom, from intergovernmental institutions such as the Council of Europe through to the cultural sector and artists themselves.

METHODOLOGY

This report is based on desk research using dedicated sources on arts freedom as well as human and cultural rights monitors, media rights groups, media coverage and data collected by the author in her practice. The focus is on events in the period 2019 to 2022. Comments and observations by participants at the Ljubljana meeting, alongside suggestions for actions, form a significant element of this report. Following established practice of the Council of Europe Secretary General’s reports on the state of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe, this report does not identify member states where there are infringements of artistic freedom or other rights unless when referring to commentary and statements already published by the Council of Europe.

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1 Council of Europe (2020a).

2 Council of Europe (2020d).

3 Council of Europe (2021e).

4 Council of Europe (2021c).

CHAPTER 2

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE AND THE DEFENCE OF FREEDOM OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION

It is frequently the artists, experts and cultural professionals who hint at problems, spell out uncomfortable truths, speak the unspoken and make the unseen visible – using their artistic and cultural means, and creating spaces for societal debate within and beyond the mainstream bodies of political discourse and in social media. ¹

Since it was founded in 1949, the Council of Europe has recognised the role of culture as a significant factor in the effective delivery of its core mission: to promote human rights, the practice of democracy and the rule of law among its member states. Specifically, its mission in the cultural field is described as:

promoting culture as the soul of democracy as a means to strong cultural policies and governance that include transparency, access, participation and creativity, respect for identity and diversity, intercultural dialogue and cultural rights – as the basis for respectful and tolerant living together in an ever-more complex world.²

These aims are put into practical effect through the Council of Europe’s CDCPP, which oversees projects that range from studies on culture’s contribution to democracy, the impact of digitisation and artificial intelligence (AI) on culture and of Covid-19 on the culture and creative sector. It also runs cultural policy advisory missions in the form of peer policy reviews and has established the Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends that monitors developments in cultural policy across a broad range of topics, providing a public database of information, including single and comparative study reports on all member states. Next to this, the CDCPP implements a number of projects around the Council of Europe’s unique conventions in the cultural heritage and landscape sector.

THE MANIFESTO ON THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION OF CULTURE AND THE ARTS IN THE DIGITAL ERA

In recent years, the right to freedom of artistic expression has become of growing importance as democracy in Europe declines. The importance of this right was recognised by the Council of Europe’s launch of the Manifesto on the Freedom of Expression of Culture and the Arts in the Digital Era to mark the 70th anniversary of the Convention. The manifesto spotlights the need for a concise and valid political commitment to safeguard artistic freedom in Europe today, to