Resistance Now Together Updates
Dear friends and colleagues,
as signatories of our Open letter to the European Parliament ‘RESISTANCE NOW: FREE CULTURE’ we would like to inform you about milestones that have been achieved since the disclosure of this important document. The campaign has caused quite a stir in European politics, and we are in contact with many decision-makers on the EU level.
In May, the Bratislava Declaration was adopted at the Open Culture! international conference announcing the development of a specific EU instrument with a structured approach to addressing artistic freedom within the Rule of Law, entitled the European Artistic Freedom Act.
We have now joined forces with key international partners to advance our goal of launching a binding European Artistic Freedom Act (EAFA) at the EU level, ensuring consistent protection of artistic freedom across all Member States. At the same time, parallel initiatives are underway within the EU framework. In particular, efforts to embed artistic freedom into the Rule of Law Report aim to establish vital transparency by making violations visible on an annual basis. Building on these findings, a future EU Artistic Freedom Act could then provide the safeguards and accountability mechanisms needed to respond effectively. These measures are not competing but complementary: one delivers systematic monitoring, while the other ensures protection and enforcement.
Together with legal experts from the Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) and the Secretary General of Culture Action Europe we have formed a steering group with the aim of having a first draft of the new law ready by the end of 2025.
If you would like to hear more about this process, tune in to our webinar, on September 24, 17:00 CET, organized in the lead-up to MONDIACULT25 where the importance of such legal safeguards will be discussed: “Countering Democratic Backsliding in Cultural Policy: Safeguarding Artistic Freedom and the Independence of Cultural Institutions“. You can register here.
The activist work of RESISTANCE NOW TOGETHER also continues, with numerous tour stops from New York, Oslo, Ljubljana and Rome to Bucharest.
Please take advantage of the opportunity to submit your artistic performances, talks and events on the key themes of art, democracy and resistance in order to create a strong RESISTANCE NOW TOGETHER campaign!
Milo Rau and Artemis Vakianis, Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna
Heidi Wiley, European Theatre Convention (ETC)
Anita Debaere and Beatriz Nobre, Pearle* Live Performance Europe
Karen Stone, Opera Europa
Lars Ebert, Culture Action Europe (CAE)
Sanjay Sethi, Kersty McCourt, Jennifer Laourou, Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI)
Davinia Galea, ARC Research & Consultancy (ARC)
Matej Drlička, Open Culture Platform (OCP)
Sara Whyatt