Society and the Arts: The State, Censorship and Social Responsibility
Society and the Arts: The State, Censorship and Social Responsibility
A theatre closes a production because its material causes offence, a historian's TV documentary is withdrawn because it is contentious, an artist's exhibition is raided by the police as an offence to public decency, a writer is threatened with death for insulting a religion and a rock band is imprisoned after lampooning the president. Where in all this do the responsibilities of the individual lie? Is work that challenges legal restrictions on expression a courageous assault on censorship or an irresponsible and insensitive attack on the values of other people? This issue is perhaps the one that most obviously reveals the interplay between society and the arts, but it is only one aspect of a very complex relationship.
In a multi-cultural and interconnected world the arts are increasingly at the cutting edge of debates about the limits of free expression, about differing understandings of heritage and about the state's support for creative work. There are many flashpoints: communities may be outraged by particular works and demand their suppression through censorship or destruction; museum collections may contain exhibits (the Elgin marbles, for example) acquired from communities who would like them returned; governments may wish to steer arts production to achieve particular goals (from political propaganda to improved social relations).
What unites these debates is a fundamental problem: who are the arts for and how should we value them? For centuries they were the preserve of the elite; today they impact on everyone and any serious debate about their place in society reflects that fact. This has implications for policy decisions at governmental and intergovernmental level (e.g UNESCO), as well as in the day-to-day decisions of architectural practices, publishers, theatres, media organisations, museums and galleries.
Lead academic: Professor Sam Smiles
Exeternal champion: Camilla Hampshire
Taster session
Date: 1 November
Time: 13:30 - 14:30
Location: Forum Auditorium
Description: Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery, in collaboration with the University’s Centre for Medical History, will be staging ‘Indecent Exposure (Sex and History)’ using museum objects as a starting point for thinking about the diversity of human sexuality. International, interdisciplinary and taboo-breaking, it’s a perfect illustration of how engagement with cultural artefacts can help us break out of traditional patterns of thinking and encourage inter-cultural communication and understanding. Using the exhibition as a focal point we’ll explore past constructions of sexuality and assess whether the arts of the 21st Century can or should explore sexuality without restraint.
The session will be led by Professor Sam Smiles, Programme Director Art History and Visual Culture, University of Exeter and Camilla Hampshire, Museums Manager, Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery.
Sign up: If you miss this session you can view it on ELE.
If you wish to pick this dilemma sign up through My Career Zone from 5th November.
Professor Sam Smiles
Professor Sam Smiles is an art historian, specialising in the history of British art. He is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles and has curated a variety of exhibitions in Britain and abroad. He has worked closely with Tate and is currently organizing a major exhibition for Tate Britain on the last works of JMW Turner.
Camilla Hampshire
Camilla Hampshire has extensive experience in the museums sector. She was Principal Keeper of the Ruskin Gallery and Ruskin Craft Gallery in Sheffield and the Project Officer for the Millennium Galleries at Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust before taking up her current post at Exeter in 2001. She is a member of the South West council, Arts Council England.
Inquiry Groups
If you sign up for this dilemma you will have the opportunity to work in an inquiry group focusing on one of these areas (please note these are still under discussion so may change):
- Freedom of expression and its limits
Outputs: a) educational resources for RAMM
b) uploaded 'intervention' re censorship for dissemination on the web
- State policy and funding for the arts
Outputs: a) web-site exploring the work of official war artists/writers
b) work with the Northcott to produce display celebrating its history, both with and without such funding
- Cultural patrimony and its preservation
Outputs: a) presentation for and about Exeter cathedral's past, present and future restorations
b) report providing possible solution to Stonehenge (World Heritage Site) planning impasse
- Building for the future: architecture and its responsibilities
Outputs: a) briefing notes re latest thinking on sustainability for local architectural practices;
b) poster display on this overall theme for public display in one of Exeter's empty premises
- The repatriation of works of art
Outputs: a) educational resource for RAMM (Benin bronze, Crowfoot's regalia etc.)
b) FAQ-type resource for web, outlining sources of information for communities wishing to pursue this
