Censorship

Ai Weiwei criticises ‘fragile’ state of Western democracy following Sky News interview

The dissident artist argues that restrictions manifest more subtly in Europe and the US

US museum under fire for cancelling Palestinian artist’s retrospective

The Eskenazi Museum of Art of the Indiana University in Bloomington cited “safety concerns” when it abruptly cancelled Samia Halaby’s show

India's first family of art looks back over 60 years of history and politics

Anniversary exhibition at Mumbai's oldest gallery, Chemould Prescott Road, dusted off the archives, featuring artists such as Mithu Sen and Atul Dodiya

Arnolfini censorship row deepens as artists refuse to work with the Bristol institution

The dispute was sparked by a decision to cancel Palestine Film Festival events

Renaissance nude painting row at French school sparks teacher walkout

Some students were reportedly “disturbed” by Giuseppe Cesari work which depicts bathing nymphs

Ron DeSantis’s ‘war on woke’ goes to college

The Florida governor’s recent education reforms are damaging arts and humanities programmes across the state—but educators and students are fighting back

Sky's the limit in public art project in solidarity with Miami's drag queens

As Florida Governor Ron DeSantis cracks down on their public visibility, local celebrities from Fantasia Royale Gaga to Persephone Von Lips are celebrated in banner form above Española Way

Pillar of Shame sculpture at centre of Hong Kong controversy included in London show

A new smaller version of Jens Galschiøt’s work is part of a survey focused on human rights in Asia

Bristol's Arnolfini gallery faces backlash after cancelling Palestine film events

Film screening and poetry night were pulled over concerns they may be seen as "political activity"

Fears for artistic expression in Russia as ministry files motion to classify 'the international LGBT public movement' as 'extremist'

Members of the country's cultural sector are among those concerned about harsh punishments for perceived violations should the declaration be signed off

Russian artist Sasha Skochilenko jailed for anti-war protest

Skochilenko was charged for replacing supermarket price labels with pieces of information about the destruction of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol

Lisson Gallery puts Ai Weiwei London show on hold over Israel-Hamas war tweet

The artist-activist defends free speech in a lengthy response, but says that the gallery’s decision is “for his own well-being”

Russian prosecutors seek eight-year prison sentence for artist who installed anti-war messages in grocery store

The St Petersburg artist Sasha Skochilenko was arrested in April 2022 for replacing a store's price labels with information about the war in Ukraine

Organisers of billboard art project allege their show in Texas on prison reform was censored

Companies that manage advertising spaces in Houston reportedly called off the project with little warning or explanation

Booksreview

The bumpy road to acceptance of China's LGBTQ+ artists is explored in a new anthology

Against a backdrop of growing censorship, a book charting the struggle of the community to gain mainstream recognition offers some hope

World Press Photo ‘shocked’ at ousting of Hungarian National Museum director in LGBTQ+ exhibition row

Images of a care home in Manila by Hannah Reyes Morales fell foul of right-wing lawmakers

Following protests, Toronto museum reinstates Palestinian artists’ work in exhibition on 'Death'

The Royal Ontario Museum had edited wall text and cropped an image of a painting, which the artist says amounted to “censorship and alteration”

Appeals court backs Miami Beach decision to remove mural of police shooting victim

Controversial action was previously ruled as an act of “government speech”

Blocked show on Genghis Khan finally opens in France

The exhibition in Nantes was postponed after interventions by Beijing authorities

Medianews

Veteran cartoonist sacked by The Guardian over depiction of Netanyahu

Steve Bell's unpublished drawing of the Israeli prime minister shows him performing surgery on his own stomach, which has drawn parallels with the antisemitic 'pound of flesh' trope

Tania Bruguera exhibition in Chile opens in modified form after uproar over artist's political stance

The Salvador Allende Solidarity Museum delayed the opening of the Cuban-born artist's solo exhibition amid pushback from Allende family members and supporters

What's behind China's spate of museum closures and downsizings?

As the country's economy takes a nosedive, its institutions face fiscal freeze and covert control amid an increasingly chaotic and arbitrary government censorship regime

Lawsuit over removal of mural honouring victim of police shooting returns to court

Judge previously ruled that taking the artwork down did not violate free speech rights

Invisible by numbers: artists must remain vigilant to escape censorship loop created by social media shadowbans

New European regulations have required Instagram to reveal how some artists’ accounts have been deprived of visibility. But fears remain over who has access to the culture-shaping power of social media

Cuban artists call for boycotts in light of government's 'persistent human rights violations'

Open letter also says that the regime is ‘using art to salvage its public image’

Arizona city accused of censorship for postponing museum exhibitions over Shepard Fairey police brutality print

Municipal officials in Mesa have come under fire for postponing the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum's autumn shows

'Cancelled' St Petersburg show honouring Timur Novikov finally opens—with censorship

Artists accuse the Russian Museum—which blames technical issues for the delay—of covering up parts of their works

Artist says California city censored his exhibition after local police took offense

Two days after his exhibition at San Mateo City Hall opened, Diego Marcial Rios’s entire show was taken down

Cubanews

Detained Cuban artist and activist pens appeal from prison on two-year anniversary

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was imprisoned on charges of contempt and insult to national symbols when widespread protests swept the nation in 2021