CULTURAL FREEDOM DEMANDS COLLECTIVE COURAGE

 

미국의 미술단체 150여개가 트럼프 행정부의 정치적 압력에 저항한다는 공개서한에 서명했다. TheArtNewspaper.com 에 따르면, 검열반대전국연합(NCAC)과 뉴스쿨의 베라리스트 미술·정치센터(VLC)가 공동으로 작성했다. 다음은 공개서한 '문화적 자유는 집단적 용기를 요구한다'의 전문과 서명기관(8/26 현재)다.  

 

 

CULTURAL FREEDOM DEMANDS COLLECTIVE COURAGE:

 

A NATION-WIDE STATEMENT OF VALUES AND PRINCIPLES FOR THE FIELD OF ARTS AND CULTURE

 

Arts and culture bring people together. They spark joy, foster belonging, enrich communities, and help us imagine new possibilities. Arts and culture also open space for complexity—for grappling with different perspectives, for hearing what we might rather ignore, and for facing what makes us uncomfortable. Cultural organizations, including art, culture, history, and science museums, as well as libraries, theaters, and dance and performance spaces, make these encounters possible. They are key to the functioning of a democracy, as they promote freedom of expression, encourage critical thinking, and create important opportunities for public discussion and dissent.

​

To perform this role and serve the public with responsibility and integrity, cultural institutions must maintain autonomy over programming choices, curatorial decisions, and artistic content. They need the freedom to showcase visionary work that inspires, is unexpected, challenges dominant narratives, and questions those in power. Exercising programmatic autonomy is essential to preserving institutional purpose and resilience in the face of ideological pressure. If institutions don’t live up to this mandate, they risk becoming instruments of propaganda and subject to the whims of those temporarily in power. 

​

In offering access to a broad range of artistic and cultural expression, arts and cultural institutions invite us to empathize with the experience of others and ask questions we might not consider otherwise. This brings nuance into polarizing conversations and supports a core value defining an open and free society: the capacity to hold differences.    

​

As contributors to the sphere of art and culture, and as representatives of US art and cultural institutions that create space for art, ideas, innovation, and public engagement, we stand firm in the shared values that make for a robust arts and culture landscape: free expression, active debate, responsibility, and care.

​

In this spirit, we affirm our commitment to the following:

We will remain true to our democratic responsibility to act as guardians of artistic freedom and independent thought.

We affirm the independence of our programming in service to our mission and commit to resisting external pressures, thus assuring our organization’s credibility and cultural authority.

We will stand with fellow institutions facing political pressure and remain a field united by shared values and principles. 

 

<Institutional Signatories>

‘T’ Space | Steven Myron Holl Foundation - Rhinebeck, NY

6th Fest - New York, NY

A Studio in the Woods - New Orleans, LA

A.I.R. Gallery - Brooklyn, NY

ABD Productions/Skywatchers - San Francisco, CA

About The Work, Inc - Los Angeles, CA

AICA - USA - Atlanta, GA

AICA International (Association Internationale des Critiques d'Art) - Paris, France

Alabama Art Education Association - Homewood, AL

All That Philly Jazz - Philadelphia, PA

Alabama Arts Alliance - Birmingham, AL

Alabama Writers' Forum - Birmingham, AL

Amador County Arts Council - Sutter Creek, CA

American Alliance of Museums - Arlington, VA

American Society for Theatre Research - Santa Cruz, CA

Americans for the Arts - Washington, DC

AnomolousCo - New York, NY

ArKtype - Brooklyn, NY

Art at a Time Like This - New York, NY

Art Forum SF - Santa Clara, CA

ARTERIAL NETWORK - Dakar, Senegal

Artis - New York, NY

Artistic Freedom Initiative - New York, NY

Artists Alliance Inc - New York, NY

Artists at Risk Connection - New York, NY

Artists Commit - Chicago, IL & New York, NY

Arts Alliance Illinois - Springfield, IL

Arts Council for Monterey County - Monterey County, CA

Arts Council of Mendocino County - Mendocino County, CA

Arts Council Santa Cruz County - Santa Cruz, CA

Arts Equity Group - New York, NY

Arts Orange County - Irvine, CA

Arts Workers United Foundation - New York, NY

Asheville Creative Arts - Black Mountain, NC

Association for the Advancement of Filipino American Arts and Culture - Los Angeles, CA

ATNSC: Center for Healing and Creative Leadership - Cleveland, OH

Axle Projects - Santa Fe, NM

Bailey’s Cafe - Brooklyn, NY

BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange - Brooklyn, NY

Bay Area Book Festival - Bay Area, CA

Bechdel Project - New York, NY

Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center - Venice, CA

Big Car Collaborative - Indianapolis, IN

Big Dance Theater - New York, NY

Brew House Arts - Pittsburgh, PA

Broadway Advocacy Coalition - New York, NY

California Arts Advocates - Sacramento, CA

Capital Fringe - Washington, DC

Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute - New York, NY

Castle of our Skins - Boston, MA

CEC ArtsLink - New York, NY

Celebration Barn - Paris, ME

Center for Puerto Rican Studies, CUNY - New York, NY

Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center - Minneapolis, MN

Chinese Performing Arts of America - San Jose, CA

Chopsticks Alley Art - San Jose, CA

Circadium - School of Contemporary Circus - Philadelphia, PA

City Garage Theatre - Santa Monica, CA

City of Sacramento, Office of Arts and Culture - Sacramento, CA

Clubbed Thumb - New York, NY

Collar Works - Troy, NY

College Art Association - New York, NY

Critical Practices Inc. - New York, NY

Curatorial Program for Research - Brooklyn, NY

Daly City Public Library Associates - Daly City, CA

Dance Parade New York - New York, NY

Dance/NYC - New York, NY

Detroit Repertory Theatre - Detroit, MI

Dimensions Variable - Miami, FL

DiverseWorks - Houston, TX

Don't Delete Art - New York, NY

Donkeysaddle Projects - Seattle, WA

Dramatists Guild of America - New York, NY

Dramatists Legal Defense Fund - New York, NY

Eyebeam Atelier, Inc - New York, NY

Feminist Center for Creative Work - Los Angeles, CA

Fractured Atlas - New York, NY

Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc. - New York, NY

Full Circle Souljahs - Bronx, NY

gallupARTS - Gallup, NM

GOH Productions - New York, NY

Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council - Pittsburgh, PA

Happenstance Theater - Rockville, MD

Harris Theater - Chicago, IL

Hear Now Music Festival - Los Angeles, CA

Hitchcock Center for the Environment - Amherst, MA

Hudson Hall at the historic Hudson Opera House - Hudson, NY

Interlude Artist Residency - Hudson, NY

Inventory Press - Los Angeles, CA

Japanese American National Museum - Los Angeles, CA

Korea Art Forum - New York, NY

La Box - Bourges, France

Lawyers for the Creative Arts - Chicago, IL

Leonardo/ISAST, International Society of Art, Science, and Technology - Multiple Cities

Living Voices - Seattle, WA

LLC Arte - New York, NY

Local Color - San José, CA

Luna Park Arts Foundation - San José, CA

MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana de San José, Inc. - San José, CA

Media Art Xploration, Inc - New York, NY

Mercury Store - Brooklyn, NY

Miami Light Project - Miami, FL

Mosaic America - San José, CA

Museum Association of Arizona - Arizona

Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art (MoCADA) - Brooklyn, NY

National Coalition Against Censorship - New York, NY

National Performance Network - New Orleans, LA

National Queer Theater - Brooklyn, NY

Nevada County Arts Council - Nevada City, CA

New Conservatory Theatre Center - San Francisco, CA

New Dance Alliance - New York, NY

New York Folklore - Schenectady, NY

New York Live Arts - New York, NY

New Yorkers for Culture & Arts - New York, NY

On Our Team - Chicago, IL

Open Studio Project - Evanston, IL

Oregon Contemporary - Portland, OR

PEN America - New York, NY

Peninsula Women's Chorus - Palo Alto, CA

Philadelphia Scenic Works - Philadelphia, PA

Pioneers Go East Collective, Inc. - New York, NY

Powerhouse Arts - Brooklyn, NY

Proyectos Raul Zamudio - New York, NY

Queens World Film Festival - Queens, NY

Radical Evolution Performance Collective - Brooklyn, NY

Recess Art - Brooklyn, NY

ReCreate Residency - New York, NY

Red Ladder Theatre Company - San Jose, CA

Rewrite the BiLine - Los Angeles, CA 

Rivers Institute for Contemporary Art & Thought - New Orleans, LA

Riverside Arts Council - Riverside, CA

Robert Simon Fine Art - New York, NY

Sampaguita Press - San Jose, CA

San Francisco International Arts Festival - San Francisco, CA

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles - San José, CA

San Jose Taiko - San José, CA

San Jose Youth Symphony - San José, CA

San Luis Obispo County Arts Council - San Luis Obispo, CA

School of Arts and Culture at MHP - San José, CA

Silicon Valley Shakespeare - San José, CA

Siren Nation, Inc. - Portland, OR

Smack Mellon Studios Inc. - Brooklyn, NY

Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) - Venice, CA

Soho Repertory Theater - New York, NY

SPACE - Portland, ME

Spy Hop - Salt Lake City, UT

St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts - St. Louis, MO

Stanislaus Arts Council - Modesto, CA

Street Dance Productions, Inc. - Jeffersonville, NY

SVCreates - San José, CA

Teatro Visión - San José, CA

The Arts Fuse - Somerville, MA

The Cherry Arts, Inc - Ithaca, NY

The Chocolate Factory Theater - New York, NY

The Civilians - New York, NY

The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center - New York, NY

The Cordial Eye Gallery and Artist Space - Hyannis, MA

The Emily Harvey Foundation - New York, NY

The Evergreen Review - New York, NY

The Feminist Art Project - CA

The Pear Theatre - Mountain View, CA

The Public Theater - New York, NY

Theatre Communications Group - New York, NY

Thompson Street Opera Company - Chicago, IL

Trans Entertainment Guild - New York, NY

TransCultural Exchange - Boston, MA

Transformer - Washington, DC

Transmitter - Brooklyn, NY

Vera List Center for Art and Politics - New York, NY

Vital Arts - Oakland, CA

WAAM (Women Artists Archive Miami) - Miami, FL

Windfall Dancers Inc. - Bloomington, IN

Women Make Movies - New York, NY

WomensWork.Art - Poughkeepsie, NY

Works/San José - San José, CA

Write Around Portland - Portland, OR

Zena Zezza - Portland, OR

https://www.collective-courage.com