Artistic Freedom, Authoritarianism & Alliances
- Tuesday, 25 November 2025
- 17:00 - 19:00h
The international NGO Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) and the Austrian Commission for UNESCO are jointly hosting the exchange event “Artistic Freedom, Authoritarianism & Alliances.”
What is the state of Artistic Freedom in Austria? Where do we see early warning signs of authoritarianism? How can we counter concerning trends of censorship, by looking to Hungary and Slovakia? How can Vienna continue serving as a meeting point for artists, cultural workers and researchers from Hungary and Slovakia? And how can we strengthen resilience networks?
At the 2024-national elections in Austria, the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) secured the highest percentage of votes. A party that has been vocal about their agenda to minimize or eliminate funding for what the call “left-wing propaganda”. In Hungary, where voters will go to the ballots in 2026, Prime Minister Orbán’s FIDESZ government has systematically undermined Hungary’s independent cultural sectors. In Slovakia, the coalition government, led by Robert Fico, has moved to seize control of the state’s culture apparatus for political ends[1].
This exchange session invites artists, cultural workers, researchers and policy experts from the three countries to discuss the state of artistic freedom in the light of authoritarianism. The event will take place in English.
[1] Reports published by Artistic Freedom Initiative: Protecting At-Risk Artists Worldwide | Artistic Freedom Initiative
Programme
17:00: Artistic Freedom in Austria - Presentation of AFI’s Submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Austria
17:15: Panel discussion with Gerhild Steinbuch (Author and die Vielen), Kata Oltai (Curator and Art Historian), Robert Špoták (Former Director, Slovak Arts Council), moderated by Sanjay Sethi (Artistic Freedom Initiative
18:00: Interactive exchange format & networking
Where?
Österreichische Postsparkasse,
Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna
Participation
Participation in the event is only possible after registration. If you are interested, please send an email to oeuk@unesco.at.