Censorship

‘Glad to see they are scared’: Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova added to Russia’s wanted list for criminals

A performance in which she burns an effigy of Vladimir Putin, and an NFT of a vagina-shaped Virgin Mary are thought to be behind new charges

Hong Kong is back with bang: Art Basel returns and M+ museum makes waves

Plus, art censorship online and Brenda L. Croft's photos of fellow First Nations Australian women

Hosted by Ben Luke and Aimee Dawson. With guest speaker Gareth Harris. Produced by David Clack and Julia Michalska
Sponsored byChristie's

Citing Idaho’s anti-abortion law, college censors art exhibition on health care

Three works addressing abortion were removed from the exhibition at Lewis-Clark State College

Diaryblog

Crunch time: the day Roald Dahl spoke to Francis Bacon about the threat of censorship

“There must be no changes to an artist’s original work when he is dead for any reason whatsoever,” Bacon said

Afghan universities and art centres ban female students as Taliban clamps down

A future generation of artists could be lost as well as the livelihoods of their teachers

Postponement of exhibition on Russian architecture school sparks accusations of ‘censorship and historical erasure’

New York’s Cooper Union postponed an exhibition on Vkhutemas, a school that operated in Moscow for ten years in the early 20th century before Stalin shut it down

Satirical portrayals of president spark censorship row in South Korea

Shutdown of the exhibition "Goodbye in Seoul" is the latest in a series of censorship controversies around negative images of Yoon Suk-yeol

Prophet Muhammad image controversy rages on as US university staff demand president's resignation

After a professor was dismissed for showing the depictions, faculty have voted that Fayneese Miller should step down over mishandling the issue

Russian artist flees LGBTQ crackdown

Yulia Tsvetkova was acquitted on charges of distributing gay ‘pornography’ but strict new laws have forced her to leave the country

Professor who was controversially fired for 'Islamophobia' after showing depictions of Prophet Muhammad is named

US university's decision to dismiss employee for displaying the 14th- and 16th-century works has been described as an "egregious violation" of academic freedom

Digital Ageanalysis

New online safety laws aim to protect children—but will they harm artists?

As the UK’s troubled Online Safety Bill finally looks set to become law, there are still concerns about whether it will get the balance between online safety and censorship right

Chinanews

As 2023 dawns, the blank A4 sheet—brandished by protestors in China—is a potent political and artistic symbol

The white-paper revolution echoes art history, recalling Robert Ryman and the Philippines-based artist Kiri Dalena

The artist Dorothy Iannone, hailed as a ‘freedom fighter’, dies aged 89

She confronted censorship issues including a legal battle over Henry Miller novel

Are you being 'shadowbanned'? Instagram announces new transparency tools that reveal if posts go against guidelines

New functions show if content goes against the social media platform's Recommendation Guidelines that it uses to decide what should be promoted and searchable

Mediaanalysis

‘Artists have a lot in common with sex workers’: OnlyFans becoming popular platform for artists censored elsewhere

Censorship by more mainstream social media platforms has artists turning to OnlyFans to promote their work

Is it time to #Twexit? How Elon Musk’s Twitter shake-up has divided creatives

With the platform's new owner firing moderators, some artists are hoping for an end to censorship while others fear discrimination

Censorshipfeature

Losing the battle: Cuba’s dissident artists find ways around censorship despite government crackdown

Since the passage of the country’s repressive Decree 349, the state has gone to great lengths to silence critical voices—but artists refuse to be silenced

Arts group takes on Polish government over political interference in cultural institutions

US-based Artistic Freedom Initiative will challenge in EU court the Polish government, saying it is “suppressing free and open artistic expression”

Myanmar's military junta releases outspoken artist Htein Lin who had been sentenced to a year's hard labour

The artist was set free in an amnesty of political prisoners, which included his British wife

US laws meant to stop sex trafficking are making it difficult for artists to promote and sell their art online

A set of ambiguous laws has pushed platforms to refuse service to artists whose work includes nude imagery or could be construed as sexual

Fleeing Twitter? Sick of Instagram? Eight lesser-known social media sites for the art world to try

More than a million users have left Twitter since business magnate took over the platform

Farewell to contemporary art in Russia: the cancellation of the Moscow Biennale marks the end of an era

Dozens of contemporary art shows have been forced to close since the outset of the war with Ukraine—but this one was meant to serve Putinist propaganda

Censored? London premiere of Andres Serrano’s Capitol attack film pulled for being 'pro-Trump'

US artist says that Prince Charles Cinema has “misinterpreted” his work

Jenny Holzer projection takes over Rockefeller Center in support of freedom of expression

The renowned conceptual artist’s latest public art piece, a collaboration with PEN America, comes after after shocking attacks on authors and journalists in the US

Decision to ban pro-Palestine films engulfs Documenta 15 exhibition in another censorship row

Members of the finding committee—including Tate Modern director, Frances Morris—condemn the advisory group’s decision to pull the works

Is art censorship on the rise? How freedom of expression is being curbed across the globe

Plus, a striking photograph by Diane Arbus and the Guggenheim Bilbao at 25

Hosted by Ben Luke. with guest speaker Gareth Harris. Produced by David. Clack, Aimee Dawson and Henrietta Bentall
Sponsored byChristie's

‘Photography gave my existence meaning’: Ukrainian artist Boris Mikhailov on making art in the USSR

As he prepares for a major retrospective in Paris, he reflects on his homeland’s war with Russia and how his art was born from adversity

Jailed Cuban artist receives €50,000 inaugural Prince Claus Impact award

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is one of six artists to be honoured by the Dutch NGO

Trigger Warning: a new column on censorship in art today, from must-read books to which algorithms are policing creative content

Our chief contributing editor Gareth Harris will examine attacks on freedom of artistic expression and issues like ‘cancel culture’, providing valuable insights and context

Censorshipfeature

Censored: the exhibitions that Instagram doesn’t want you to see

Galleries and artists are Increasingly finding themselves at the centre of heavy-handed suppression on the social media platform