France's Collège de France cancelled a Palestine conference on November 8, 2025, following political pressure from Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste and advocacy groups. The November 7 Israel Philharmonic Orchestra concert in Paris was disrupted three times by protesters with smoke bombs, leading to four arrests. French artists responded with a December 9 charity concert raising €50,000 for Gaza. In January 2026, France indefinitely suspended its Pause asylum program for Gazan artists and scholars, leaving at least 21 recipients trapped despite having been awarded scholarships.
Iranian security forces killed at least 21 artists and cultural workers during a month-long crackdown on nationwide protests that began January 8, 2026. The deaths occurred across multiple cities as government forces opened fire on demonstrators, turning what Amnesty International called "the deadliest period of repression by the Iranian authorities in decades" into a systematic killing of photographers, musicians, actors, and filmmakers alongside thousands of other civilians.
TikTok is facing accusations of suppressing content about federal immigration enforcement and a fatal shooting in Minneapolis, just days after the platform completed its transfer to majority American ownership. Users claim their videos about the January 24 killing of Alex Pretti received unusually low views or were marked "ineligible for recommendation" by the platform's algorithm. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse and U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents during an immigration
BACKGROUND: Trump's first year back in the White House has produced both dramatic institutional takeovers and sustained pressure that cumulatively narrows room for independent cultural work. In May 2025, the Kennedy Center restructured its bylaws to freeze out Congress-designated trustees. That same evening, the NEA terminated 560+ approved grants totaling $27 million. Yet resistance is mounting: 150+ organizations pledged support for artistic freedom, and the Fall of Freedom movement staged 600+ coordinated events in November 2025. The battle over culture defines 2026
South Africa: Minister Gayton McKenzie's unilateral cancellation of Gabrielle Goliath's Venice Biennale pavilion has triggered a constitutional crisis in South Africa's arts sector. The artist, unanimously selected by an independent panel, was removed after her "Elegy" series addressing Gaza was deemed "divisive." McKenzie claims sovereignty concerns and denies censorship, but critics say he violated the arm's-length principle protecting artistic freedom. Goliath has filed suit, and the sector awaits presidential intervention.
Cabaret Paulikevitch in Beirut became a flashpoint in 2025, when Lebanese dancer and artivist Alexandre Paulikevitch faced threats and incitement from both Christian and Islamist extremists over his baladi performance. Despite calls to ban the show and online campaigns depicting his work as “perversion”, the September 11 cabaret went ahead to a sold-out audience at Metro Al-Madina, turning the stage into a rare moment of public resistance for queer-coded dance and artistic freedom in Lebanon
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In April 2025, Lebanese artist Hanane Hajj Ali performed her acclaimed play “Jogging – Theatre in Progress” at the Lebanese International University in Saida, to a calm audience and open discussion. Days later, the university condemned the show under moral and religious pretexts, following an online smear campaign that weaponised decontextualised video clips and threats. Artists and cultural workers mobilised in response, framing the case as a dangerous precedent for artistic freedom in Lebanon
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BOOK: In Art against Artillery: Voices of Resilience, Ukrainian journalist Olha Volynska documents how artists, musicians and theatre makers continue to create under bombardment and displacement. The book reveals culture as both survival and resistance, showing how stages, galleries and rehearsal rooms become frontline spaces for defending memory, truth and the right to exist as a people.
Uganda’s 2026 elections are unfolding under a deliberate information blackout. A nationwide internet shutdown, assaults on journalists, and orders for rights groups to halt work have gutted independent scrutiny of the vote. The combined pressure on media, NGOs and cultural actors exposes a deepening digital authoritarianism that directly threatens civic and artistic freedoms in Uganda.
The August 2025 decision to rename Syrian schools exposed a deep struggle over cultural memory and identity. When authorities moved to remove playwright Saadallah Wannous’ name from a Damascus school, public backlash forced a rare reversal. Meanwhile, a sweeping order in Aleppo replaced dozens of cultural figures with religious names, signalling an ideological reshaping of Syria’s educational space.
In January 2026, Adelaide Writers’ Week imploded after its board disinvited Palestinian‑Australian author Randa Abdel‑Fattah in the wake of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah shooting. Abdel‑Fattah called the move “a despicable attempt to associate me with the Bondi massacre,” arguing that her mere presence as a Palestinian was treated as dangerous or “unsafe,” sparking a mass author boycott and institutional crisis.
Myanmar’s artists, musicians and performers have become voices in resisting the junta’s rule, both inside the country and in exile. Through satire, underground music scenes and documentary projects, they document abuses, support mutual‑aid networks and challenge propaganda. Despite arrests, executions, citizenship revocations and harsh new laws, these creative communities continue to carve out rare spaces for honest expression and solidarity.
FEATURE: Russia is rapidly constructing a new censorship machine that reaches into every field of art. Renowned filmmakers like Alexander Sokurov are rebuked in front of Putin, publishers face extremism charges over LGBT‑themed books, theatre directors are jailed for “justifying terrorism,” and musicians, museums and street artists navigate raids, blacklists and vigilante denunciations. Together, these cases reveal a deliberate strategy to turn artistic life into a zone of permanent legal risk.
Bangladesh: A youth-led “March for Justice” set out from Dhaka’s Shahbagh on 6 January, demanding accountability for the killing of activist, writer and teacher Sharif Osman Hadi. Led by Inqilab Mancha, the march tied Hadi’s assassination to wider struggles over democracy, Indian hegemony and “cultural fascism,” as protesters vowed to escalate their campaign unless planners, collaborators and cross‑border protectors of his killers are brought to justice
During the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests, Iranian artists became cultural icons—over 100 arrested or prosecuted for their activism. Today, with leaked government documents exposing a secret "Celebrity Task Force" and systematic work bans, prominent creatives have gone underground. The December 2025–January 2026 uprising shows artists participating through encrypted channels and anonymous work rather than public visibility. Yet the cultural infrastructure they built—from the Grammy-winning anthem "Baraye" to protest imagery—remains the emotional backbone of resistance, while the fates of 2022's imprisoned and exiled figures continue to shape how the movement unfolds.
The July 2025 eviction of Damascus’s historic Al‑Kindi Cinema by Syria’s Ministry of Religious Endowments has become a defining test of post‑Assad cultural policy, pitting promises of renewal against fears that religious and political authorities are tightening their grip on what counts as legitimate art and public memory.
Bulgaria’s winter protests against a controversial 2026 budget and entrenched corruption have been driven not only by politics but by culture. Young demonstrators, many protesting for the first time, were mobilised by artists, musicians and digital influencers who turned posts into calls to action. From actors and pop stars on the streets to vloggers translating outrage into everyday language, culture became a key engine of collective action.
Iranian singer, Parastoo Ahmadi, 27, stages a bold hijab‑free “imaginary concert” in a historic caravanserai, livestreamed on YouTube with no physical audience but watched by thousands online. Performing in a sleeveless dress with uncovered hair alongside three male musicians, she directly challenges Iran’s bans on women singing publicly. Within 24 hours, the judiciary announces legal proceedings, turning one virtual show into a high‑stakes test of artistic freedom.
Poet and opposition leader Chaima Issa has become a central symbol of Tunisia’s shrinking civic space. Arrested on 29 November while joining a women’s rights protest in Tunis, she is now serving a 20‑year sentence in the politically driven “Conspiracy Case” and has launched a hunger strike from Manouba Prison, turning her body into a final form of protest against President Kais Saied’s escalating repression.
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As Uganda heads toward the 2026 elections, opposition‑aligned musicians are being drawn into an intensifying crackdown marked by arbitrary arrests, house‑arrest‑style sieges and shootings at rallies. From repeated cordons around Bobi Wine’s home to the arrest of Nubian Li and the shooting of Omukunja Atasera, the state is treating music as a security threat rather than a space for artistic expression
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