ART UNDER THREAT IN 2016: WHAT DROVE VIOLATIONS The following section of the Art under Threat in 2016 report explores the issues and tendencies that drove governments and other groups to limit artistic expression. TABLE OF CONTENTS * Click on the following titles to be taken to that part of …

New York-based dance troupe Shen Yun has felt China’s long reach in South Korea when they found their recent scheduled performances cancelled by court order “explicitly citing threats by the Chinese embassy”, reported The Diplomat on 9 May 2016. The trouble between Shen Yun, the Korean Broadcasting Service (KBS) which …

Freemuse registered 469 cases of censorship and attacks on artists and violations of their rights in 2015, making it our worst recorded year yet.

The North Korean pop group Moranbong Band was scheduled to perform in Beijing, China, on 12 December 2015 to cultivate ties between the two countries, but their concert was abruptly cancelled without explanation a few hours before they were to have entered the stage at the city’s National Centre. A …

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has issued a decree demanding the destruction of tapes and CDs that could threaten the regime, reported Daily NK. Concerned about possible threats to his regime, the North Korean leader has reportedly ordered music censorship to be extended, banning not only foreign songs but …

Sony initially called off the release of the film, citing threats of terror attacks against US cinemas. The American president Barack Obama criticised the decision, and by the end of December 2014, the movie then premiered in a number of US cinemas. “Freedom prevails”, wrote a cinema on its billboard. …

Sony Pictures has cancelled the premiere of a US$44 million comedy film about the fictional assassination of North Korea’s leader, ‘The Interview’. The cancellation comes after the hacking of Sony’s computer system and threats of terror. In June 2014, North Korea called the movie an act of war and promised …

In August 2013, the North Korean singer Hyon Song-Wol was reported by South Korea’s largest daily newspaper The Chosun Ilbo to have been executed by firing squad. On 16 May 2014, she appeared on North Korean state television, apparently alive and well, as she delivered a speech at a national …

Newsletter from Article 19, published on article19.org on 21 October 2013: Art, in any form, constitutes a key medium through which information and ideas are imparted and received. Artist Alert, launched by ARTICLE 19 in 2008, highlights cases of artists around the world whose right to freedom of expression has …

Sun Mu is not the artist’s actual name. It’s a nom de plume that uses a combination of two Korean words that translate to ‘The Absence of Borders’. It not only represents what he feels is the transcendence of art but also the literal military demarcation line that keeps the …