Freedom in the Arts was established by the choreographer Rosie Kay and arts producer Denise Fahmy. The aim of the project is to tackle the groupthink that has seized the creative industries, a kind of malaise that has resulted in widespread self-censorship among artists.
The three key mission statements are:
to protect freedom of speech and to offer artists all levels of support to protect their rights
to protect freedom of expression and make sure that the arts are the place where difficult ideas can be addressed, explored and discussed
to uphold the mission of institutions that serve the arts and the public, to make sure they maintain impartiality and are non-ideologically driven.
I spoke to Rosie Kay on last Sunday’s episode of Free Speech Nation. Here is the full interview…
You can learn more about Freedom in the Arts and fill out their survey here.
Great interview Andrew and Rosie. I wholeheartedly support FITA and their mission to ensure freedom of speech is protected within the Arts. While I’ve now retired from making theatre work, I’ve never witnessed as much censorship as I’ve seen and heard about, in the past 5 years. You’re both doing a great job in challenging the simplistic groupthink and policing that has become epidemic within our profession.
The arts establishment have done themselves no favours over the past 20 years. To be honest, I think all Government funding for the arts outside education settings should be stopped. Nothing breaks down groupthink like having to sell your work to people who actually want it.