World Art Day, a celebration to promote the development, diffusion, and enjoyment of art, was proclaimed at the 40th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 2019. Each year, on 15 April, World Art Day celebrations help reinforce the links between artistic creations and society, encourage greater awareness of the diversity of artistic expressions, and highlight the contribution of artists to sustainable development. The Artists’ Association of Sweden is a member of IAA/AIAP (International Association of Art), an official partner of UNESCO, and takes part in this yearly celebration.
For World Art Day 2023, Sara Edström, President of The Artists’ Association of Sweden and Vice president of IAA Europe, sends a video message where she talks about the importance of artistic freedom and presents The Artists’ Association of Sweden’s new platform Artistic Freedom Watch.
Artistic Freedom Watch is a platform for continuously collecting information in order to get a more comprehensive picture of the limitations in artistic freedom that professionals in the visual and formal arts field experience in Sweden. The platform is part of our work to defend artistic freedom, create awareness and arouse public opinion on the issue.
The platform collects voices from Swedish artists to learn if they have experienced stated or unstated demands to change or remove content and/or expressions in a work, an exhibition, a project, or in another context without an objective reason.
We must understand how all levels of infringements enable violations at the top of the pyramid. If we do not react to even the smallest infractions of freedom of expression, we might soon lose sight of where we were and where we are going as a society.
Watch the film and read more at: artisticfreedomwatch.se/