#artistic-freedom

#artistic-freedom

Marisa Merz (1926-2019) was the only woman among the core group associated with the influential Arte Povera movement, whose artists made sculptures from everyday materials instead of ones typically associated with fine art. Her exhibition was scheduled to open in August at the Fridericianum, which acts as the historic anchor of Documenta during the quinquennial's run and mounts major surveys when that festival isn't taking place.

Over a pared-back post-punk beat, Simz details her life's genius plan, namely being free as I can. The first half is spent detailing the roadblocks she's faced in her quest, marching through them like a Marvel hero. Then, as if throwing her arm round a young apprentice's shoulder as she walks, she lays out her six-point plan for greatness with koans of wisdom such as: Never eat with the hyenas / Cause they will look at you as bones.

Freedom can only be taken, at a price, and, for Francis Ford Coppola, the price of freedom to make the grand-scale political fantasy " Megalopolis " was a hundred and twenty million dollars, which he raised by selling off part of his winery. He'd been trying to make the movie for about thirty years. He finally got to shoot it in 2022 and 2023, when he was eighty-three.

More than 150 cultural organisations and, as of this writing, over 320 artists and cultural workers have signed a public statement affirming their "commit[ment] to resisting external pressures" and that they will "stand with fellow institutions facing political pressure". The statement was organised by the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics (VLC) at the New School.

In 1973, Marina Abramovic debuted her first performance work, 'Rhythm 10,' where she thrust 10 sharp knives between her fingers, occasionally drawing blood.

Kehlmann's new historical novel reflects on the fragile nature of artistic expression under oppressive regimes, drawing parallels between the past and contemporary censorship.