t should come as no surprise that artists are under threat, globally. At its core, making art is about telling the truth, to become an agent for change. This often makes artists’ work and their very existence a threat to those in power—and power does not like to be questioned.
So it seemed fitting for a program exploring the risks and challenges artists face to pay tribute to one who could not attend: Afghan Dari poet Nadia Anjuman, killed in 2005 at age 25, after spending her teen years honing her craft despite the repression of Afghanistan’s Taliban regime.
Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) dedicated its latest session, “On the Front Line: Artists at Risk, Artists Who Risk,” to Anjuman’s memory. As an organization whose mission is to “challenge present and future leaders to solve issues of global concern” SGS convened over 50 artists and allies age 23 to 90 from over 40 countries to its home base at Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, Austria, from 25-30 March 2023.
Where are These Front Lines?
A front line is, of course, the place at the very front of a battle. The term hearkens to the trench warfare of World War I, as soldiers stood their ground and either waited for an attack or prepared one of their own. One attendee described the front line as a place where women artists stand with each other, care for and support each other, and plan together.
Many artists globally, willingly or not, find themselves on the front line: a place of conflict between authoritarianism and democracy, on the fault line of those asserting equality amid growing polarization and backlash, facing unprecedented events including a global pandemic and climate upheaval, and facing down the naked, suppressive power of police, militias, and militaries. Often, artists are driven into exile, presenting them with a whole new set of challenges.
There are shortcomings to the “front line” military metaphor, of course. It’s a very fluid concept, and for the purposes of this program, that is by design. Still, one attendee remarked that while the “front line” location was apt in placing artists shoulder to shoulder in solidarity supporting the right to freedom of expression, it failed to capture the mixed role artists must play, including doing work that reaches even those inside the supposedly monolithic belief systems of family, fellow citizens, and others. To remain empathetic and open to those on the “other side” in a hostile environment is to cling to hope and believe in a better world. Another attendee reminded those at the program of the need to never forget someone will see your art, it will make them think, and perhaps they will have a change of heart and mind. And yet, this open-hearted, chance-taking approach can come at great cost, exhausting artists who toil outside of an institutional setting or who must support their own artistic endeavors, and proving perilous for artists at risk.
SGS recognized this latter challenge for many of those assembled for the program, seeking to avoid capturing the image of those who wished to avoid being shown in photos disseminated to the public and instituting the Chatham House Rule to respect anonymity and privacy while allowing for frank dialog.
The Urgency of the Threat
But the urgency of this event is due to its timeliness and the scope of the problem. According to the latest global artistic freedom report by Freemuse, there were more than 1,200 violations of artistic freedom in 103 countries and online in 2021, and a record number of 39 artists reportedly killed that year. Also, 500 artists who faced legal consequences for challenging authority figures or traditional or religious values.
One program attendee highlighted the poem “This Valley of Death is Not My Country” by Bengali poet Nabarun Bhattacharya, which translated includes the following part: “...this is the time to write your poems / on walls, with stencils, in manifestos / this is the time to create a collage of poems / with your blood tears bones…”
As the session progresses over the rainy week in Salzburg, it is becoming clear that artists remain more than equal to the risks they face, yet many are bone-tired from the sustained onslaught of real and virtual attacks. There remains much to do to create networks of mutual support, channel broader support into artist sustainment networks, and leverage technological tools to strengthen, protect, and amplify artists at risk.
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Artists on the Global Front Line
Protest art. Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash
March 27, 2023
What does it mean for artists to be at risk, and to take risks, in an increasingly perilous time? Around 50 artists and allies from more than 40 countries are convening at Salzburg Global Seminar's latest program to consider these questions, writes DC Editor and session rapporteur Jeremy Fugleberg.
I
t should come as no surprise that artists are under threat, globally. At its core, making art is about telling the truth, to become an agent for change. This often makes artists’ work and their very existence a threat to those in power—and power does not like to be questioned.
So it seemed fitting for a program exploring the risks and challenges artists face to pay tribute to one who could not attend: Afghan Dari poet Nadia Anjuman, killed in 2005 at age 25, after spending her teen years honing her craft despite the repression of Afghanistan’s Taliban regime.
Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) dedicated its latest session, “On the Front Line: Artists at Risk, Artists Who Risk,” to Anjuman’s memory. As an organization whose mission is to “challenge present and future leaders to solve issues of global concern” SGS convened over 50 artists and allies age 23 to 90 from over 40 countries to its home base at Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, Austria, from 25-30 March 2023.
Where are These Front Lines?
A front line is, of course, the place at the very front of a battle. The term hearkens to the trench warfare of World War I, as soldiers stood their ground and either waited for an attack or prepared one of their own. One attendee described the front line as a place where women artists stand with each other, care for and support each other, and plan together.
Many artists globally, willingly or not, find themselves on the front line: a place of conflict between authoritarianism and democracy, on the fault line of those asserting equality amid growing polarization and backlash, facing unprecedented events including a global pandemic and climate upheaval, and facing down the naked, suppressive power of police, militias, and militaries. Often, artists are driven into exile, presenting them with a whole new set of challenges.
There are shortcomings to the “front line” military metaphor, of course. It’s a very fluid concept, and for the purposes of this program, that is by design. Still, one attendee remarked that while the “front line” location was apt in placing artists shoulder to shoulder in solidarity supporting the right to freedom of expression, it failed to capture the mixed role artists must play, including doing work that reaches even those inside the supposedly monolithic belief systems of family, fellow citizens, and others. To remain empathetic and open to those on the “other side” in a hostile environment is to cling to hope and believe in a better world. Another attendee reminded those at the program of the need to never forget someone will see your art, it will make them think, and perhaps they will have a change of heart and mind. And yet, this open-hearted, chance-taking approach can come at great cost, exhausting artists who toil outside of an institutional setting or who must support their own artistic endeavors, and proving perilous for artists at risk.
SGS recognized this latter challenge for many of those assembled for the program, seeking to avoid capturing the image of those who wished to avoid being shown in photos disseminated to the public and instituting the Chatham House Rule to respect anonymity and privacy while allowing for frank dialog.
The Urgency of the Threat
But the urgency of this event is due to its timeliness and the scope of the problem. According to the latest global artistic freedom report by Freemuse, there were more than 1,200 violations of artistic freedom in 103 countries and online in 2021, and a record number of 39 artists reportedly killed that year. Also, 500 artists who faced legal consequences for challenging authority figures or traditional or religious values.
One program attendee highlighted the poem “This Valley of Death is Not My Country” by Bengali poet Nabarun Bhattacharya, which translated includes the following part: “...this is the time to write your poems / on walls, with stencils, in manifestos / this is the time to create a collage of poems / with your blood tears bones…”
As the session progresses over the rainy week in Salzburg, it is becoming clear that artists remain more than equal to the risks they face, yet many are bone-tired from the sustained onslaught of real and virtual attacks. There remains much to do to create networks of mutual support, channel broader support into artist sustainment networks, and leverage technological tools to strengthen, protect, and amplify artists at risk.
