Freedom_In_The_Arts
@Freedom_in_Arts
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There is an emergency in the cultural sector. Artists are fearful of expressing themselves. FITA works to reinstate a fair & healthy arts scene.
UK
Joined August 2023
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In the interests of free speech we call on
@ethan_diamond
CEO of
@Bandcamp
to re-instate UK musician
@LouiseDistras
account, discography and income. Bandcamp can’t give up on freedom of expression – it has a moral responsibility to protect it.
@SpeechUnion
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Absolutely delighted to finally officially launch
@Freedom_in_Arts
today in
@thetimes
with
@DeniseFahmy
Cancelled? We can help! The support group for ‘erring’ artists
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Congratulations
@LouiseDistras
- We were very glad to help Louise win her case.
I fought the law, and I won!
One year ago today I first spoke out on the debate around ‘trans rights’ and the importance of protecting women's sex-based rights and single sex spaces because being a woman, and the experiences I’ve had because I’m a woman, are central to my life
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Our statement regarding remarks made concerning our directors,
@DeniseFahmy
and
@RosieKayK2CO
at the employment tribunal of:
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Thank you to everyone who has followed us.
We’ve reached 1000 followers!
Sign out letter here:
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Great article about
@Freedom_in_Arts
in todays
@TheStage
The age of
#nodebate
in the arts is well and truly over.
Thank you The Stage. We hope the message gets out to artists and arts organisations across the whole of the UK.
With
@DeniseFahmy
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MANIFESTO LAUNCH!!
Freedom in the Arts Launch their Arts Manifesto
Before the UK elections, Freedom in the Arts set out their manifesto for the arts.
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Freedom in the Arts Launch their Arts Manifesto
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Letter:
Artistic freedom is under attack. After years of political polarisation compounded by escalating economic challenges, artists and arts institutions rightly feel immense pressure to address the fundamental questions facing society.
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Louise's case highlights how harassment of artists so often threatens free expression in the arts. Whilst the details of this case cannot be made public, please read and support if you can.
Help Me Win My Trial
Last year my life and music career was turned upside down after I was accused of being transphobic and subjected to a sustained campaign of harassment, stalking and malicious communications. Now I need to raise £30,000 for the legal expertise to fight a
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"Finally, could we please stop posturing, stop pretending, stop being empathic and earnest and try instead to embody values of discipline, integrity and impartiality. Instead of safe spaces, let us now have brave spaces."
@RosieKayK2CO
in todays
@ArtsPro
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We welcome
@nickserota
's new found commitment to artistic freedom. Bullying & self-censorship are now endemic in the UK arts scene.
We call on
@ace_national
to commit the arts' protection of artistic freedom in funding agreements
Our
@ace_national
chair Nick Serota in
@today
’s
@ObserverUK
on arts investment for our youngest children, a cultural entitlement for all young people, the role of culture in communities and on the world stage, and protecting artistic freedom
#LetsCreate
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Balanced and informative piece by
@soniasodha
'Defence of free expression is like a muscle: you have to work it hard in uncomfortable situations in order to strengthen it.'
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2. Protect the arts
Protect freedom of expression for artists to make the best work asking all the difficult questions and taking risks, allowing audiences to enjoy what they choose to see and not be lectured, harangued or talked down to.
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@LouiseDistras
Hi
@ethan_diamond
CEO
@Bandcamp
We wrote to you back in November ? Can you re-instate UK musician
@LouiseDistras
account, discography and income. Bandcamp has a moral responsibility to protect artistic freedom
revenue.html
https://x.com/Freedom_in_Arts/status/1722998771779359174
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Artistic freedom is under attack
Artists, art institutions and supporters of the arts must act to restore and protect the intellectual and creative freedom of artists.
Sign the letter here:
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3. Hold Art Institutions to account and help steer them forward
Offer support to venues, protecting your programming decisions, understanding your mission and articulating that clearly, lobbying the biggest arts institutions, funding bodies and parliamentarians.
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Freedom in the Arts has been set up by arts producer Denise Fahmy and choreographer Rosie Kay. Designed as a 5-year emergency project to tackle the culture of fear and intimidation artists are facing for expressing their legal views,
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Thank you for introducing us to peers yesterday
@Fox_Claire
. A terrific speech ! We would welcome a conversation with
@lucyfrazermp
to discuss our concerns about intolerance in the arts.
Finally, I touched on the problems of EDI, why we need free speech for ALL. I encouraged the minister to meet up with
@RosieKayK2CO
and
@DeniseFahmy
to discuss their new campaign: Freedom for the arts.
#KingsSpeech
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We think the new
@arts_national
requirement National Portfolio Organisations 'alert' the funder of potential for reputational risk, will have a chilling effect on artistic freedom
Read P17
APNews: Arts Council England (
@ace_national
) has updated its policies, warning that "political statements" made by individuals linked to an organisation can cause "reputational risk", breaching funding agreements (1/5)
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@OpenUniversity
@ace_national
Speak to us
@Freedom_in_Arts
We can help you get this right.
Statement from Professor Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University regarding the recent employment tribunal judgment - OU News
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1. Protect artists
Protect freedom of speech for artists, support & offer legal and press advice.
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Hi
@UK_Music
have you and your Chair
@tom_watson
been following
@LouiseDistras
' case ? Can you help us get her
@Bandcamp
account reinstated ?
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They say POLITICS is downstream from CULTURE
Well, CULTURE is downstream from the ARTS
The ARTS are in crisis right now and we call for a commitment to freedom of expression.
Please share- we need Freedom in the Arts UK and worldwide.
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Fantastic interview with
@LouiseDistras
on
@andrewdoyle_com
#FreeSpeechNation
Outrageous the way she’s been treated and FITA call on
@Bandcamp
to reinstate her account.
Musician
@LouiseDistras
joins
@AndrewDoyle_Com
to discuss being cancelled by her booking agency and de-platformed by streaming platforms because of her views on gender ideology.
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“Great art that speaks of today cannot be made in a climate of fear. Art that has been authorised by committee can become propaganda. Freedom of expression and impartiality are the bedrock of our thriving culture, and we lose them at our peril.”
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Please sign our letter here:
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@ThangamMP
Hi
@ThangamMP
happy new year! Over 1,000 people, mainly working in the arts, have signed our open letter objecting to censorship in the arts. Co-founders
@RosieKayK2CO
&
@DeniseFahmy
have also experienced 'cancellation. Let's meet asap to help restore tolerance in the arts.
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Great press on the launch of
@Freedom_in_Arts
since last Sunday.
1st up is the brilliant
@SianGriffiths6
in
@thetimes
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Why
@Freedom_in_Arts
is concerned about the new
@ace_national
guidance.
'The threat to artistic freedom is rarely intentional in a democratic society. Censorship creeps in through a diffident failure to protect it.'
@DeniseFahmy
in the
APNews: Arts Council England (
@ace_national
) has updated its policies, warning that "political statements" made by individuals linked to an organisation can cause "reputational risk", breaching funding agreements (1/5)
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However, FITA’s manifesto identifies a crisis in the arts because a culture of censure and intolerance has taken root. Artists are being cancelled and careers collapsing. Many artists self-censor to avoid opprobrium and harassment
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Freedom in the Arts, an emergency organisation set up in October 2023, has published a manifesto calling for the protection of artistic freedom.
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Here co-founder
@RosieKayK2CO
talks to
@EveningStandard
about why she and
@DeniseFahmy
set up Freedom in the Arts.
Drawing on interviews with over 20+ artists, across all arts sectors & at every level, she explains the ‘playbook’ of cancellation and why artists are vulnerable.
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Co-founder
@RosieKayK2CO
in today's
@ArtsPro
"If artists are silenced, we risk losing a generation of talent, as well as deterring new, unique voices from joining the profession."
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Co-founder Denise Fahmy says; “Together with our advisory group, Freedom in the Arts can bring valuable insights to the new Government about what's going on now in the arts. We hear day in day out from artists facing cancellation, and their stories are very disturbing.”
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Freedom in the Arts Spring News🧵
In Feb Arts Council England's, the biggest UK public funder of the arts, refreshed its guidance to regularly funded organisations, urging them to report ‘reputational risk’ as result of, “overtly political or activist” activity.
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New report out today on diversity and inclusion which
@freedom_in_the_arts
contributed to.
New report seeks to end ineffective business diversity and inclusion practices:
● Expert panel sets out how employers can move beyond ineffective diversity and inclusion practices
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FITA launches a funding campaign to help support their work protecting artists, delivering their manifesto and influencing future policymakers.
FITA campaign website:
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FITA is rightly proud of the vibrant arts scene the UK that has grown up in the past 30 years and the contribution the creative industries make to the UK economy. The country’s arts sector is boldly entrepreneurial, free to shock, challenge and inspire audiences.
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Artistic freedom has been key to our cultural life, protected in UK and international law and a founding principle of our post war democracy.
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And donate here:
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@Freedom_in_Arts
thoughts on the cancellation of Midsummer’s Night’s Dream
@rxtheatre
🧵
The cancellation of Mid-Summer Night’s Dream at the Royal Exchange Theatre shows just how fraught relations are in the arts, a professional sector where fear now reigns.
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Campaign:
Today FITA launches a funding campaign to help support their work protecting artists, delivering their manifesto and influencing future policymakers.
// ENDS //
FITA campaign website:
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Following
@chiggi
's article we wrote to
@ObserverUK
about our concerns regarding limits on artistic freedom.
I have lived through times of optimism and confidence in the possibilities that arts, culture, and the humanities can bring. We can avoid a doom loop, but we need to act now.
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FITA’s manifesto presents three themes for the next Government; To protect artistic freedom, to restore artistic excellence as the guiding principle in the arts, and to ensure the arts funding system centres a healthy arts scene over instrumentalism.
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@BBCFrontRow
We’d be very happy to talk to you about our aims-
1. To protects artists
2. To articulate the importance of freedom of expression
3. Help arts organisations and funders be impartial while upholding points 1. and 2.
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We’d be very happy to talk to you
@EquityUK
about our aims-
1. To protects artists
2. To articulate the importance of freedom of expression
3. Help arts organisations and funders be impartial while upholding points 1. and 2.
1/7 We are deeply concerned that Arts Council England’s new guidance for funded organisations will censure the freedom of expression of arts institutions and gag artists, especially those working in the activist or political space.
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“We call for everyone in the arts to get behind an exciting and optimistic future that champions talent and excellence.”
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To ensure cultural funding and support bodies are impartial, services should be delivered under the Civil Service Code whilst maintaining the arm’s length principle from Government.
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Great to see
@TheStage
picking up our Freedom in the Arts MANIFESTO.
A campaign group fighting an alleged "culture of censure" in the arts has called upon politicians to ensure funding and support bodies remain impartial (
@Freedom_in_Arts
).
Read the full story 👇
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Today Govt clarified public bodies' equality duties. Eliminate discrimination, advance equality & foster good relations for the 9 named characteristics in the Eq Act. Why them? Because they need more protection - even public services can discriminate.
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FITA demands Government centres artistic excellence over identity, and that mechanisms that have too heavily focussed on identity are repealed. To better nurture quality and talent, excellence in arts learning is more beneficial than over-stretched access opportunities.
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The intellectual freedom of the arts & their role in the free exchange of ideas and opinions are vital to our culture. Recent times have seen the rise of intolerance: a new set of moralistic & political attitudes which many institutions and activist groups have adopted as dogma.
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The detail:
To stop the culture of bullying, FITA asks the Government to support the arts’ protection of artistic freedom and restore the impartiality of institutions, enabling individuals, artists and audiences to express themselves freely.
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Institutions have lost confidence and are failing to protect artistic freedom.
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We don’t know the detail of this case so make no direct comment on it. However artistic freedom works two ways. Platforming blatant political positions, particularly during a live armed conflict, risks alienating audiences and hijacking artworks for political posturing.
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With pressure coming from all sides, on artists, on their work, on venues and on everyone’s professional reputations, it is art lovers, the audience, who lose out the most, often voting with their feet !
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The fact that there is no legal right not to be offended is the basis of artistic freedom, and venues must protect it or lose it.
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While society continues to debate complex issues such as race, sex and gender equality, religion, climate change, and geopolitical events, the arts have rushed to offer singular, unnuanced responses that shut out other views and often alienate audiences.
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FITA member and best-selling author Kenneth Cukier of The Economist said; “An open society depends on tolerance for ideas -- radical, offensive, banal or odious. The place to explore them is the arts. Institutions must uphold this freedom to protect the dignity of all of us all
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You are warmly invited to join us for a virtual town hall on Sunday, with
@FAIRintheArts
November 26th from 2:00-4:00 pm EST celebrating the launch of Rosie Kay & Denise Fahmy's new initiative, FREEDOM IN THE ARTS.
Register:
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Many thanks
@Fox_Claire
for your support of Freedom
In the Arts.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss restoring tolerance in the arts and our current concerns shared widely.
@DeniseFahmy
and
@RosieKayK2CO
would be very happy to meet with
@lucyfrazermp
.
Finally, I touched on the problems of EDI, why we need free speech for ALL. I encouraged the minister to meet up with
@RosieKayK2CO
and
@DeniseFahmy
to discuss their new campaign: Freedom for the arts.
#KingsSpeech
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We understand venues desire to protect themselves, their audiences and the work itself from this crassness. On the other hand, artists must be free to make political work, just as audiences are free to avoid it.
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This has introduced a culture of self-censorship and groupthink which are fundamentally damaging to the arts. The demands for ideological compliance and the avoidance of controversy are impoverishing our institutions which were once spaces for free thought and open debate.
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Add your name here if you are an artist, you work in the arts or are an arts lover!
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FITA advocates for greater accountability in arts funding and a reduction in arts administration expenditure to increase investment in arts production. FITA calls for the strengthening of artists’ legal protection to bring about a fairer arts sector.
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As part of Freedom in the Arts I feel that what we are calling for are the most simple, moderate principles to be remembered and upheld”, comments co-founder Rosie Kay.
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Art schools, galleries, theatres, dance and music stages, and film sets were once platforms that nurtured diverse ideas and contrasting perspectives. Today, many of these institutions actively discriminate against artists and audiences who do not subscribe to their views.
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And yesterday's article in
@thetimes
detailing the stories of artists who have suffered fro expressing good father opinions and beliefs:
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They must renew their commitment to serving the public and welcoming a diversity of opinions and beliefs. Art history celebrates artists who stood up to the popular consensus of their fields. To hold up a mirror to society again, artists today must be free to challenge ideas.
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Campaign:
Today FITA launches a funding campaign to help support their work protecting artists, delivering their manifesto and influencing future policymakers.
FITA campaign website:
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Manifesto:
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This intolerant activism is now an existential threat to the arts.
Arts institutions and supporters of the arts must act to restore and protect the intellectual and creative freedom of artists.
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This repressive atmosphere has given rise to numerous boycotts & protests. Artists & art workers have become the subjects of cancellations, denunciations, and smear campaigns simply for holding legally protected views or expressing mainstream opinions, even outside of their work.
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Covered by
@soniasodha
@ObserverUK
“We have a topsy-turvy world where we pretend that it is somehow possible to fund the arts impartially, when the reality is that there is nothing more political than the decision to spend taxes and lottery proceeds on one thing over another.”
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@Austen12341
@LouiseDistras
@Bandcamp
We are UK based but since launching we’ve had people message us from all over the work with very similar and horrific stories.
Please do sign and share.
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@GraceBMcr
@ethan_diamond
@Bandcamp
@LouiseDistras
@SpeechUnion
Louise has not been provided with evidence of having breached Bandcamp's Terms of Use - Thank you
@GraceBMcr
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Freedom in the Arts co-founder Denise Fahmy wrote about our concerns in The Critic noting ‘The threat to artistic freedom is rarely intentional in a democratic society. Censorship creeps in through a diffident failure to protect’.
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An excellent examination of the current state of affairs by
@JonnyWorst
quoting FITA co-founder
@DeniseFahmy
and artist
@ClaudiaCeramics
Me in
@Unherd
today: the free speech crisis in the arts and how activists captured Arts Council England
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@carolinefff
@ace__london
Hi Caroline we believe ACE may have left the Stonewall scheme
Good news from
@ace_national
- if this is correct it is a wise and timely decision by
@HENLEYDARREN
and
@nickserota
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Read our MANIFESTO here:
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