Shortly before the elections to the Sejm (first chamber) in Poland in October, the members of the European Alliance of Academies are campaigning for the freedom of the arts and for cultural rights in Poland. As part of a study trip, the Polish Alliance partner Villa Decius is organising talks with artists and cultural workers whose artistic work is affected by political and financial pressure.

Eleven European countries were represented. Both internal and public podium discussions focused on the increasingly restricted freedom of art and artistic platforms in Hungary and other European countries. 

42 members from 19 countries of the European Alliance of Academies met at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin to discuss restrictions on artistic freedom in the face of war and crisis. How are the working conditions of artists changing? What can artists contribute to peace? What opportunities does the digital space offer? 

The third conference focused on the question of how historical events influence art institutions, artistic practice and cultural goods in public space.

The focus of the Second Conference was to address the potential of artistic cooperation for European cohesion. The key question was: How can we better network in analogue and digital spaces and counteract political restrictions?

In order to examine the interaction between language, society and politics, the European Alliance of Academies launched a series of events on the freedom of the arts involving authors from all over Europe

The European Alliance of Academies took the European Union’s Europe Day on 9 May as an opportunity to advocate for the freedom of the arts – in Hungary especially. In cooperation with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), the Alliance launched an online petition to the European Parliament and filing a complaint with the UN Special Rapporteur for Culture.

On the occasion of the German EU Council Presidency 2020, the Akademie der Künste invited representatives of European art academies and cultural institutions to lay the foundation for a “European Alliance of Academies”, which advocates for the freedom of art and reacts in solidarity to political restrictions.