The Walls Within: Precarity and the Freedom of Artistic Expression

A One-Day Symposium
27 September 2025
Artİstanbul Feshane
AICA Turkey, AICA Pakistan

The recent political developments in our region continue to seriously erode freedom of expression. Following the short-lived hope sparked by the Arab Spring, regime changes, civil wars, cross-border conflicts, and the entrenchment of authoritarian regimes — both in the East and the West — have created a troubling landscape that severely threatens freedom of expression and creative practices.

This situation has forced many cultural workers, particularly in already fragile regions such as MENA, the Caucasus, and the Balkans, to endure increasingly insecure living conditions; to face pressure, violence, and unjust punishment; to be imprisoned; and, in many cases, to leave their countries altogether.

In Turkey, the growing authoritarianism, the arrest of individuals over mere social media posts, and recent events over the past three months — particularly the imprisonment of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul and the opposition’s presidential candidate, along with his colleagues — have created an atmosphere in which cultural and artistic actors who aim to respond to these violations through artistic and intellectual production are forced to live under a constant threat of punishment.

In this context, AICA Turkey, in collaboration with AICA Pakistan, is organizing the symposium titled “Right to Critique and Freedom of Expression in an Environment of Increasing Censorship and Insecurity.”

The symposium aims to explore how we can confront censorship, overcome self-censorship, and defend our freedom of expression within our core areas of focus — art criticism, art and art history education, and curatorial practice — as well as more broadly within the international cultural and artistic sphere. The goal is to examine the situation, share experiences, and produce practical proposals.

We recognize that the political and economic pressures on the cultural and artistic field resulting from neoliberal authoritarianism are not limited to Turkey or our region alone — European democracies, too, are undergoing a significant test.

We believe that this symposium, to be held alongside the Istanbul Biennial, will provide a timely and appropriate platform to address the realities behind the cultural and artistic sphere. It holds not only the potential to generate meaningful assessments and actionable proposals but also symbolic importance in terms of fostering solidarity between our region and international actors.

Ekmel Ertan (AICA Turkey)
Niilofur Farrukh (AICA Pakistan)

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Program

27 September 2025, Saturday

1st Session
10:00–12:20

• 10:00 Entrance

• 10:30 Welcoming

  • Niilofur Farrukh (AICA Pakistan) — Online —

  • Ekmel Ertan (AICA Turkey), Refik Akyüz (AICA Turkey)

• 10:35 Opening Talk & Q&A

  • Beral Madra (AICA Turkey)

• 10:50 Introduction: Local Conditions & Censorship

  • Özlem Altunok

• 11:00 Keynote

  • Sara Whyatt (Freemuse, London) — Online —

• 11:30 Presentation & Q&A

  • Eric Otto Wear (AICA International)

• 12:00 Break

2nd Session
13:00–16:00

• 13:00 Presentations (15 mins. each)

  • Imran Mushter Nafees (AICA Pakistan) — Online —

  • Lali Pertenava (AICA Georgia)

  • Steve Sabella (Palestine)

• 13:45 Moderated Panel

  • Moderator: Banu Karaca (Turkey)

  • Participants: Imran Mushter Nafees, Lali Pertenava, Steve Sabella, Eric Otto Wear

• 15:15 Closing

This announcement is also available as a downloadable PDF.