The Sida-funded Programme for Artistic Freedom run by the Swedish Arts Council is being extended. The program provides support to organizations around the world working with artistic freedom. The new programming period runs until 2027.
Sida and the Swedish Arts Council have signed a multi-year agreement on the cultural aid project Programme for Artistic Freedom. The agreement secures a continuation of the programme that began in 2020 and means that the Swedish Arts Council has now been able to make a decision on grants for continued support to the eleven organisations that are the programme's partners. The support goes to efforts that protect and strengthen artistic freedom in countries in Africa, the Middle East, South America, Southeast Asia and Europe.
The aim of the programme is to provide better opportunities to work as an artist, to freely create, display and distribute one's works without being subjected to threats and reprisals from the state or other parties. And through that, improve the opportunities for people to take part in varied art and culture.
"The programme is becoming increasingly necessary with the global backlash for democracy and human rights. Today, for the first time in 30 years, there are more authoritarian regimes than democracies, and artists' ability to create freely is being challenged around the world. Therefore, it is more important than ever to continue to develop the Programme for Artistic Freedom," says Kajsa Ravin, Director General of the Swedish Arts Council.
The previous programming period resulted in more than a hundred artists gaining access to sanctuary and lawyers and representatives from civil society conducting training in defending cultural rights and cultural actors. Hundreds of cases of censorship, violations and harassment against artists have also been documented, while individual artists have had their cases tried in national courts.