In depth: THE ART DIFFerential takes a closer look at the ArtFreedomWales program run by Index on Censorship, after their internationally renowned promotion of freedom of expression washed up on Welsh shores and invited the great and the good – not to mention the controversial – to a Free Speech Hearing in Cardiff

Burma. China. Belarus. Wales. You may think that our nation sits uncomfortably within this list of censored countries, but the people of Index on Censorship say differently.

On the 27 November, Chapter Arts Centre in Canton hosted an ArtFreedomWales Free Speech Hearing, prompted by debate over questions concerning the issue of artistic censorship in Wales. Index on Censorship’s Julia Farrington and David Heinemann initiated the ArtFreedomWales program, which gathered Welsh creatives’ thoughts on free expression. These were brought to Cardiff for the hearing, in a culmination of the project.

Farrington, associate arts producer at Index on Censorship, told THE ART DIFFerential that Index hoped to act as a facilitator to the ensuing conversation. “Index does not impose or dictate. What we do is provide a platform for those in Wales who feel issues of censorship need to be discussed,” she confirmed.

But many, like Elen Ap Robert – artistic director of Pontio – wondered, “Isn’t it odd that we are here this afternoon asking the question, ‘Is Wales enjoying the right to artistic freedom?’”

Welsh artists, Censored?

According to Heinmann, the organisation’s head of events, Index on Censorship believes in cultivating and nurturing a world in which free expression is available for all. Its initiatives span the globe, from New Mexico to New Delhi.

This map illustrates just how far reaching the Index trajectory towards an all-encompassing international platform for free expression goes:

Those working within the art sphere in Wales may be surprised to see that Index has worked tirelessly on home soil to prevent the kind of artistic censorship that we tend to associate exclusively with undemocratic countries.

The ArtFreedomWales hearing was opened by an eccentric and flamboyant Turkish artist and playwright, Meltem Arikan, who spoke of the struggles she faced while working in her country of origin. She took the stage in her purple boots and flowing skirt to tell those present her moving story. “I had to leave Turkey because of a vicious and sustained campaign against me and my friends on social media and TV in which we were subject to a continuous barrage of brutal verbal and rape and death threats.”

She went onto explain that these threats were elicited by Turkish lines of politics that opposed her 2012 satirical play Mi Minör. You can watch her full speech in the second video in the YouTube playlist below, courtesy of Index on Censorship.

Comparatively, artists in Wales have an easy ride. There was an undercurrent of embarrassment throughout the online hangouts staged by ArtFreedomWales leading up to the hearing. It seemed the Welsh artists involved in discussions wanted to avoid appearing ungrateful for the safe environment they have to express themselves.

Tim Price, a playwright currently working in Cardiff, claimed, “That’s what is interesting about this whole project… I wasn’t sure I had much to say compared to Meltem’s experience. My issues with freedom of expression in Wales seemed completely insignificant.”

To hear more of his thoughts on Wales’ “chronic lack of self esteem” and the problems with a bi-lingual arts community, watch the 1st online hangout on the ArtFreedomWales YouTube channel.

The hangout also included some rousing notions from Welsh language band, 9Bach’s Lisa Jen, who claimed that Welsh artists don’t take enough risks and tend towards self-censorship.

Welsh artists, Interrupted

However, as discussions both online and at the hearing developed, it became all too clear that the issues Price raised only scratch the surface the problem. In reality, the nuanced matter of artistic freedom in the Welsh arena is multi-faceted.

This short audio track includes highlights of the issues tackled by all of the participants at the Free Speech Hearing.

Patrick Jones, a colourful Welsh writer, shared his story of censorship with the hearing. He spoke passionately of Waterstones cancelling his book launch and reading due to pressures from a religious group called Christian Voice. The prose in question was said to have incited racial hatred with its controversial message, read aloud with artistic vigor by Jones: “And just like Mary Magdalene, I f*cked Jesus. And just like Mary Magdalene, I shall be in each of us.”

Watch Patrick’s recital of his work in the seventh video in this YouTube playlist, courtesy of Index on Censorship:

Welsh artists, Progressing

ArtFreedomWales, if nothing else, has served to get those people in positions of relative power within the arts sector of South Wales talking about restrictive forces in the Welsh arts sphere, self-imposed or not. The discussions the free speech hearing were informative, progressive and heated, or as Lleucu Siencyn – chief executive of Literature Wales – deemed it in a @LitWales tweet, “lively”.

It is clear, after listening to all the opinions aired over the course of the afternoon, that Wales is a comparatively free country in which artists are able to express themselves without fear of persecution and imprisonment. No Welsh artist is likely to fall victim to the traumatic experience of censorship Arikan spoke so eloquently of.

However, artistic censorship in Wales is not to be laughed off under the heading of ‘Don’t be melodramatic, you’re better off than many other practicing artists in the world.’

The issues are far more deep-rooted in Welsh culture and the national perception of itself and its artistic identity. The passion of the speakers at the hearing – and the fact that there was anything to say at all – is illustrative of the need for change in attitudes towards freedom for artists to express themselves in democratic countries.

Yes, we are lucky not to suffer the hardships that artists in China, Turkey, Burma and many other politically stifled countries do for their craft. But as a democratic nation, surely, it is a tragedy that at least a proportion of artists practicing in Wales feel the need to self-censor and are unable to reap the full benefits of our supposedly free artistic reign.

Welsh artists, Surveyed

In the succeeding weeks since the ArtFreedomWales Free Speech Hearing, those involved in the arts scene in Cardiff and South Wales – including THE ART DIFFerential – have been pondering the question, ‘Is Wales enjoying its right to artistic freedom of expression?’

Let us know what you think by answering this survey. We will tweet the results in the New Year, along with the hopes of a nationwide New Year’s resolution to encourage and promote more artistic risk-taking and to demote the apparent Welsh inclination to self-censor its artistic output.

51.483472 -3.206639