Open letter: freedom of speech, opinion, and creativity
https://www.neme.org/blog/freedom-of-speech
This year, the contemporary art scene in Cyprus has been overwhelmed by an avalanche of poor decisions and actions by the Deputy Ministry of Culture, demonstrating that its administration is not exercising its responsibilities with due diligence. We have reached a new low, as it appears that the Deputy Ministry is adopting a strategy of control through confusion, forcing the cultural sector to absorb itself in a constant response to frequent and poorly coordinated interventions and policy shifts, rather than focusing on research, development, and the evolution of artistic production. The result is a climate of insecurity and disorientation, which favors alienation rather than study and creation. Although there have been controversies in the past that have fueled the news and social media, never before have we had so many issues to contend with in such a short period of time as we do now.
Recently, there have been numerous reports in the news and on social media about the withdrawal of the Cyprus Pavilion’s catalogue from the Venice Architecture Biennale. However, the issue at hand is not whether we agree or disagree with the content of the catalogue, but whether we believe that the government has the right to censor creative content based solely on ideology, and, unthinkably, to request the withdrawal of the publication. This is nothing more than a form of oppression and suppression of historical diversity, which even contradicts the recent announcement by the same Deputy Ministry calling for cultural proposals for Cyprus’ EU Presidency, with specific themes, one of which focuses on the role of our island as a bridge between the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Reactions to the censorship of the list vary, and discussions on this issue divide our population. Regardless of how many believe that Cyprus has, or should have, a dominant (Greek) culture, no one can deny that throughout our history, non-Greeks have lived and settled here, and our constitution officially recognizes the Turkish, Armenian, Latin, and Maronite communities, which have contributed to the enrichment of our country’s multicultural character.
Democracies function through sensitivity and understanding of other cultures or ideas, not through oppression. Issues relating to the Venice Biennale catalogue should not have escalated into an attempt to censor its distribution by the same Deputy Minister who opened the exhibition. Whether one agrees with the written use of the Greek Cypriot or Turkish Cypriot language variety or not, or whether isolated parts of the content do not adhere to the dominant narrative of Cyprus’ history, is not the main issue. The text should have been judged publicly in the context of the concept and content of representation, as public debate and the right to disagree are the cornerstones of democracy.
The cultural sector believes that creativity cannot be restricted by the micro- or macro-politics of any government, and that governments should not only accept non-violent dissent but also embrace it as it reflects their understanding of the communities they represent.
The current administration of the Deputy Ministry of Culture seems to be acting with the aim of levelling and homogenising culture and cultural producers with agendas and ideological considerations, sending clear messages about the content they should have. This has nothing to do with the role of art in the social context, and no appeal to the role of the Deputy Ministry as a financier and/or producer is valid because its responsibility is to protect and defend any non-malicious ideas and creative expressions.
To this end, we would like to draw the attention of the Deputy Minister of Culture to the “Declaration on Cultural Rights” by the MED9 ministers, which she co-signed and adopted on September 16, 2024. The Declaration has been posted on the government website.
The following are the articles of the Declaration relevant to our topic:
MED9 Declaration on Cultural Rights
We the Ministers of Culture of the MED9 called together to an online meeting in the context of the MED9 Summit held in Cyprus and a hybrid conference on “Cultural Rights in Times of Crisis” to reaffirm our commitment to the implementation and realisation of cultural rights. To this end, we adopt the present Declaration.
Preamble
- Recognizing that the exercise of cultural rights has a positive transformational impact on individuals and cultural communities, particularly their freedom, agency, and possibilities to participate in and contribute to the wider society.
Action points
- We commit to take measures to resist to the undermining of any cultures within our territories by media, politicians and other entities. We recognise that such undermining can lead to the dehumanisation of sections of the population and to violations of other rights as well as ethnic tensions and conflicts.
- We recognise the importance of effective participation of people in cultural policies and initiatives, including in their conception, creation, delivery and evaluation of programmes relating to or impacting cultural rights.
- We recognise that cultural rights are not absolute and cannot be invoked to impair other rights and interests using the tools of international human rights law.
- We commit to work towards educating our societies on the scope of cultural rights; in particular our policy makers, our public bodies and enforcement agencies. We shall also strive towards the justiciability of cultural rights at the domestic level and consider aligning our efforts with the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
- We commit to ensure that individuals and groups have their right to cultural heritage. We commit to protect cultural heritage of all in our territories in times of peace and conflict. We recognise that what constitutes cultural heritage will be defined by the holders of such heritage. We further commit to interpret and use the UNESCO and Council of Europe instruments on cultural heritage in a manner that respects and promotes cultural rights for all.
- We affirm that culture should be an integral part of sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda and that we shall work for culture to be included as a set alone goal in the post-2030 Agenda.
In the light of the Declaration, any justifications, political, ideological, procedural, or technical, for restricting freedom of speech, opinion, and creativity cannot be accepted, as all are equally valuable in healthy societies and only authoritarian governments indulge in their undemocratic repression. Censorship is political, ethnic, and cultural gagging.
We the co-signatory organisations demand that the Deputy Minister of Culture act in accordance with the Declaration and the commitments she has signed, officially retract the withdrawal from circulation of the catalogue of the Cypriot representation at the Venice Architecture Biennale and cease all witch-hunts, inside and outside the Deputy Ministry, on this issue. We note that the co-signatories do not agree or disagree with the content of the Biennale catalogue, but all agree with the freedom of non-hateful expression as an integral part of democracy and creativity.
Co-signatory organisations
- ABR – Alternative Brains Rule
- Art Seen Projects
- BRAVE NEW CULTURE
- CATHRINE
- Celadon Center for the Arts
- Centre of Visual Arts and Research (CVAR)
- D6 CULTURE EU
- Dance Gate Lefkosia -Cyprus
- International Association of Photography & Theory IAPT
- M.A.M.A Contemporary
- MeMeraki Artist Residency
- NeMe
- OPU Collective
- PELMA (Projects Embracing Love Motivated Art)
- Phaneromenis 70
- Point Centre for Contemporary Art
- Queer Wave
- Sic. Contemporary Culture
- The Island Club
- Urban Gorillas
- Visual Voices
- bytheway Productions
- korai project space
- Διεθνές Φεστιβάλ Animation Κύπρου – Όψεις του Κόσµου
- Θκιο Ππαλιές
- Κέντρο Παραστατικών τεχνών ΜΙΤΟΣ
- Κινηµατογραφική Λέσχη Λεµεσού
- Κύπριοι Χαράκτες
- Νέα Κίνηση Οµάδων Χορού, Χορευτών και Χορογράφων Κύπρου
- Ξαρκής
- Οµάδα Εν δράσει
- ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΤΙΚΟ ΙΔΡΥΜΑ ΛΕΥΤΕΡΗ ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΟΥ
- Πολιτιστική Κίνηση Ex Artis
- Στέγη Σύγχρονου Χορού Λεµεσού (Dance House Lemesos)
- Στέγη Χορού Λευκωσίας
- Συλλογικότητα Θεατρικών Δηµιουργών
- Σωµατείο Εικαστικών Καλλιτεχνών και Θεωρητικών Τέχνης (φυτωριο)
- Υπόγεια Σκηνή/Πολυχώρος Συνεργείο
- Χώρος Οπτικού Πειραµατισµού Όαση
