Freemuse State of Artistic Freedom Report launch at the Nobel Peace Center

We are proud to announce that the annual Freemuse report, State of Artistic Freedom 2022, documenting violations of artistic freedom worldwide will be launched in Oslo, Thursday 1 September @ 4 pm CET as part of the Nobel Peace Center’s Freedom of Expression Festival.

The whole event will be streamed live on youtube (see link).

The landscape of oppression is illustrated by the more than 1,200 violations of artistic freedom worldwide documented by Freemuse in 2021. Among them is a record number of 39 artists who were reportedly killed that year. More than 500 artists faced legal consequences for challenging the authorities, public figures, and religious and traditional values.

The COVID-19 pandemic entering its second year added to this grim landscape with continuing loss of lives, economies battered, and public spaces shut down. Restrictions imposed at the start of the virus outbreak in 2020 continued to negatively impact public discussion and scrutiny of government decisions in 2021. Artists and cultural workers were in the midst of this turmoil, chronicling events around them, taking part in protests, and all too often becoming targets of repression.