Markus Rindt, the director of the Dresden Symphony, has claimed that Turkey has demanded the European Commission (EC) pull its 200,000 Euros funding from the ‘Aghet’ art project, in which his orchestra will perform a piece on 30 April 2016 marking the 101-year anniversary of the Armenian genocide, reported The …

Since the beginning of the 1980s, the Belarusian rock musician Lavon Volski has been one of the most influential cultural personalities in his country fighting for freedom of artistic expression. In May 2016, he is being honoured with the Freemuse Award 2016. By Ingo Petz For more than 30 years now, Lavon …

Lavon Volski, an icon of Belarusian rock music, is the winner of the 2016 Freemuse Award. His songs are anthems of those who dream of a democratic and free Belarus. Thus Volski since many years has been on the regime’s infamous “black list” of artists never played on national radio …

Hard rock band Rammstein is suing the German government for 66,000 Euros (approx. $75,000 USD) in damages for essentially banning their 2009 album ‘Liebe ist für alle da’ upon its release, when they placed it on a restricted list that limited its potential success, reported Deutsche Welle on 5 April …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is notorious for bringing thousands of his citizens, including many artists, up on insult charges ever since he took power in 2014. Freemuse continues to report on the president’s repression of artistic expression; and while he currently tries to force another country – Germany – to do the …

A satirical painting by Joe McNicholas entitled ‘An Irish Political Allegory’ was removed from the ‘Spring Notes’ exhibition at the Cork School of Music after complaints over some of its imagery, reported Irish Independent on 9 April 2016. The painting includes images of seven Fianna Fáil (Republican Party) heads of …

German comedian Jan Böhmermann’s satirical and controversial poem criticising Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has not only pushed the boundaries of humour, but has also propelled political debate between the two nations and called into question the values of freedom of expression. The poem, which Böhmermann read on his public …

On 13 March 2016, a community theatre production of play ‘Kováči’ (Blacksmiths) in the central Slovakian town of Brezno was halted halfway through its performance by controversial Banská Bystrica regional governor Marian Kotleba, who has already been embroiled in a fight with local theatres, reported The Slovak Spectator on 16 …

One out of three Swedish writers and visual artists have been exposed to threats, harassment, violence or vandalism, revealed a new report, ‘Culture under threat?’, published 14 April 2016 by Kulturanalys, the Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy. “The extent of this is so great that it must be seen as …

Actress Füsun Demirel was removed from the cast of tv-series ‘The Family Business’ after saying in an interview with newspaper Cumhuriyet on 13 March 2016 that she would like to play a role related to the guerrilla girls, reported newspaper Radikal on 16 March 2016. Demirel’s comments were made when …