Global Freedom of Expression

Update

Cultural Control: Censorship and Suppression of the Arts in Poland

Key Details

  • Themes
    Artistic Expression

Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) has released the Artistic Freedom Monitor report on Poland – Cultural Control: Censorship and Suppression of the Arts in Poland

The report was created in collaboration with the UC Berkeley School of Law and Columbia University’s Harriman Institute. It was funded by the SDK Foundation for Human Dignity.

Cultural Control analyzes the strategy of Poland’s leading Law and Justice party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość; PiS), “to promote its nationalist political vision and strategically crowd out opposition voices from the nation’s most influential arts and cultural institutions. The report finds that PiS has abused the Polish justice system to intimidate artists and censor creative expression that contradicts the Polish Catholic Church or the nation’s image. The report identifies and outlines PiS’s tools of systematic artistic suppression, and puts forth precise, actionable policy recommendations to strengthen protections for Polish artists and cultural workers.”

Read the full report here: https://artisticfreedominitiative.org/projects/artistic-freedom-monitor/poland/

Authors

Sanjay Sethi

Co-Executive Director, Artistic Freedom Initiative; and Managing Partner, Sethi & Mazaheri
Adjunct Associate Professor, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs