Artists and Cultural Workers, Now is the Time to Defend Your Creative Freedom

About a year and a half ago an artist contacted my organization, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), to report that her solo exhibition was facing sudden deinstallation in response to criticism circulating online. Apparently, some sham journalists and internet trolls had manufactured controversy about her work, and the venue’s director wanted to make the problem go away — by taking down the entire show!

The artist connected me with the show’s curator. We agreed that the first step of action should be to equip the curator to deliver a list of talking points and relevant considerations to the director, arguing to keep the exhibition on display. When I relayed this approach to the artist, she asked for a version of these talking points that she could use, if necessary. I provided her with an adapted version, but to my knowledge, the artist never needed to use them: when the curator approached the director about the issue, she learned the director had never even seen the exhibition.

A simple tour of the space was enough to assure him that the show should stay on view.

🔎 what we’re seeing

Typically, when signs of potential art censorship arise, things go a bit like this. We first try to work with the curator (or editor, producer, artistic director, or librarian, as relevant). As intermediaries between the artist and the presenting institution (which has the authority to cancel or retain a given project), curators are usually able to explain the reasons why a given work was selected in the first place, as well as the value of showing challenging works.

Today, however, as government pressure on the cultural sector foments fear and stigma around the presentation of now-unsanctioned perspectives and identities, many curators and other employees of cultural institutions feel unable to publicly support work when it gets targeted. Some feel out of their element and underprepared, while others may fear that doing so will cost them their jobs and essential benefits. Even if curators offer behind-the-scenes support for artistic freedom, the absence of a public advocate from within the institution leaves a dangerous lacuna in public perception that is often filled by the work’s detractors.

Under these circumstances, some artists may be called to advocate for their work themselves.

📢 all hands on deck

Responding to this changing landscape of censorship in the US, NCAC recently launched a new resource for artists and cultural workers: The Artist’s Guide to Defending Artistic Freedom. Focusing on censorship prevention and response strategies, the document enumerates negotiation tactics and talking points derived from NCAC’s 26 years of defending artistic freedom in the US.

We’re in an “all hands on deck” moment when artists may be called, not just to express themselves through their creative works, but to advocate for their work. For artists, this means not only knowing why they make their work, but knowing how to speak in its defense. It means knowing how to speak in support of artistic freedom as an essential element of a thriving cultural ecosystem and, by extension, a functioning democracy.

💥 when and how to use this resource

The Artist’s Guide to Defending Artistic Freedom is for artists and cultural workers who make work about sensitive subjects, or who, after their work has been invited for presentation by some cultural institution or venue, are sensing signals that this invitation may soon be altered or rescinded because of fear of controversy.

Defining censorship in the arts:

Art censorship occurs when a work of creative expression is curated or selected for presentation, and then that invitation is rescinded or the presentation is canceled because the people leading the presenting entity (like a museum, theater, or other venue) or government actors disagree with the work’s perceived message, or fear there will be backlash because of it. An artwork may also be censored because of the artist’s socio-political positions expressed in their other work or in outside comments, or because of allegations about their behavior.

NCAC defines art censorship broadly, in recognition that private entities—not just government actors—can suppress art, and that censorship is detrimental to the free exchange of ideas and artistic expression.

The Artist’s Guide contains four key sections addressing:

• 🧭 What artists can do to guide interpretations of their work even before it gets selected
• 💬 How to respond to institutional censorship pressures
• 🤔 What to consider when trying to attract public attention to a censorship case
• 📣 General talking points in support of artistic freedom–that can be used by anyone

❤️‍🔥 leveraging your power

While The Artist’s Guide does not replace the direct support that NCAC has provided artists, curators, and other cultural workers for decades — we continue to encourage submissions of censorship reports — it is for those who are ready to leverage their own relational power and knowledge of their work to convince would-be censors of the importance of defending artistic freedom on principle.

In times when censorship pressures abound, the First Amendment remains a core protection. But when the government is constantly testing the limits of its power, and when private cultural institutions face repeated threats to fall in line, we need not just institutions and curators but cultural workers in general and the artists themselves — to defend the kind of open culture that makes experimentation possible and makes art truly relevant to our lives.