Statement in response to the plan to establish an external review committee for the “Hiroshima Triennale 2020 in BINGO”

It has become clear that in regard to the international art festival “Hiroshima Triennale 2020 in BINGO” due to take place from September to November this year, Hiroshima Prefecture is set to establish an external review committee separate from the executive committee for the festival in order to consider in advance whether or not each planned work is to be exhibited. *

If, in this festival, a review committee established by the local government determines whether each planned work is exhibited or not, independently of the executive committee responsible for the planning and operations of the festival, then it must be concluded that this effectively constitutes prior censorship.

We, the members of Artists’ Guild, strongly reject this policy both as an artist collective engaged in the exploration of an art platform, and as individual artists. We also request that the executive committee of the art festival be guaranteed full autonomy from public authorities in determining works to be exhibited.

In art festivals and exhibitions where censorship is self-evident, it is clear that the most fundamental condition of art—the guarantee of diverse values that presupposes individual autonomy—breaks down. This is because, even before an evaluation or decision can be made by respective individuals including artists, curators and viewers, the works and movements “permitted” under censorship have already been made to conform to specific values held by public authorities.

We must carefully avoid the inclination to think of art as having value understandable by “all people” or as something that is only pleasant. We, artists, know from firsthand experience that creative expression and ways of living that are unpleasant for the majority are, for some individuals, a reminder and affirmation of life. 

And, as long as we continue to be individuals, it is not only artists but also each member of society who can be regarded outside of “all people” or “the majority” at any moment. Providing heterogeneous, independent individuals with a voice and expressing diverse senses of value is a major role of art in society, and we will not relinquish this out of fear of what is presented as being “all people” or “the majority.”

Should such prior censorship come to take place in public in the future, not only art professionals such as artists and curators but also all those involved in art festivals will be forced to pay greater attention to the criteria for such censorship. It is not hard to imagine that the effects of this will not only affect this art festival, but also force the future decline of expression in general, and eventually our daily lives.

We feel an urgent sense of impending crisis and resolutely oppose the trend for international art festivals and exhibitions to include a de facto censorship process, as well as the current state of affairs where many people are turning a blind eye to the gradual progression of this situation.

14 March, 2020
Artists’ Guild
http://artists-guild.net/

* “Prefectural government establishes external review committee for ‘Hiroshima Triennale 2020 in BINGO.’ What will happen to freedom of expression?” Bijutsu Techo online, March 7 2020
https://bijutsutecho.com/magazine/news/headline/21442 (Japanese only)

[Previous related statements by Artists’ Guild]
– Call for the cancellation of withdrawal of subsidy grant for “Aichi Triennale 2019” (October 6, 2019)
http://letters.artists-guild.net/2019-10-06/ (Japanese only)

– Statement in response to the closure of “After ‘Freedom of Expression?’,” the time prior to its closure and the future ahead (September 5, 2019)
http://letters.artists-guild.net/2019-09-05/