Claiming artistic freedom

What is the future of the freedom of the artist? In co-operation with the Hivos Culture Fund, Winternachten organizes a day programme with presentations, workshops and to close the programme a central debate. Eight prominent writers, cinema-artists and critics from Africa, Asia and Latin-America will present their work. Together with the audience they will discuss such things as censorship and self-censorship, growing intolerance towards the arts through religious fundamentalism and nationalism, the influence of commerce, globalization and world trade and the importance of international cultural co-operation. Also the paticular Dutch situation within the cultural sector will be debated.
The South-African publisher Annari van der Merwe (Kwela Books) will talk with the Dutch writer Henk van Woerden on minority languages and media-conglomerates in her country. Writing poetry and publishing in Saint Martin is the subjec of a discussion of Lasana M. Sekou and Tanja Jadnanansing.

Film and censorship in Sri Lanka is the subject of an interview with film director Prasanna Vithanage by Marijke de Vos. The world's biggest poetry festival, which takes place in the Colombian city of Medellin, fights for its artistic freedom. The poet Nicolás Suescún testifies to this in an interview with the Dutch poet Erik Menkveld.

Since the fall of Suharto Teater Utan Kayu is the centre of the cultural and social debate in Jakarta. The freedom of expression is once again under threat. Chris Keulemans speaks with one of the editors of Teater Utan Kayu, writer and literary critic Hasif Amini.

Film critic María Lourdes Cortés is interviewed by Katrien Gottlieb on the development of cinema in Central-America. Journalist Wim Bossema meets the poet Chirikure Chirikure, and discusses the courageous publishing company Weaver Press.

The day is concluded with a debate, involving all the artists and the audience, led by Michaël Zeeman. English spoken. Ends at 4.15 pm.