Art Without Fear
Taking Back Our Freedom to Speak and Create
When singer Róisín Murphy spoke out recently about the pressures artists face for expressing personal opinions, and was promptly vilified online, many of us in the arts recognised that chill immediately.
Writer, poet and now The Scotsman weekly columnist Jenny Lindsay has written brilliantly about this atmosphere, and she and I have both lived it for years: the anxiety, the cancellations, the public silence of colleagues who know something is deeply wrong.
When my colleagues in the dance world either cancelled me, or slowly stepped away from supporting my work, the experience was brutal. But it made something absolutely clear to me: if we don’t stand up now for freedom of expression in the arts, we will lose it entirely.
That’s why, with the support of my friend Graham Linehan, I stopped trying to fight this alone and started to build something positive.
Freedom in the Arts
Together with Denise Fahmy, who stood by me while working at Arts Council England, and who later won an employment tribunal after enduring bullying and harassment for speaking up, we founded Freedom in the Arts (FITA).
FITA exists for one reason: to defend artistic freedom through research, practical tools, and quiet but courageous advocacy. We’re not about slogans or sides. We’re about fairness, lawfulness, and trust. And today, we take that mission to the next level.
Today, we launch not one, not two - but three national surveys.
These are the first of their kind in the UK. Each is confidential, anonymous, and practical, and together they will create the most honest picture yet of what is really happening inside British arts and culture.
They’re part of our new research project: Art Without Fear.
1. Artists Survey
For dancers, writers, musicians, actors, directors, designers, and everyone who makes art.
We’re asking: What have you experienced? What are you afraid to say? Where have you felt pressure or silence?
Your answers will help us understand how censorship and self-censorship actually operate — and how we can protect creative freedom from within the sector.
2. Agents & Managers Survey
For those who represent artists and negotiate between creativity, commerce, and public life.
You’re often caught in the middle — protecting clients, managing reputations, and dealing with social or political activism that can turn professional life upside down overnight.
We want to hear your reality, so we can help build clear guidance for professional resilience.
Take the Agents & Managers Survey
3. Venues & Festivals Survey
For artistic directors, programmers, and cultural organisations.
Venues are now ground zero in the battle for freedom of expression — managing internal disputes, sponsor pressures, audience protests, and staff fear.
This survey asks: How do you navigate it all? What support do you need?
Why This Matters
For too long, fear has replaced fairness in the arts. Good people have been silenced. Institutions have been bullied into compliance. But most of us didn’t enter the arts to parrot a political line; we did it to tell the truth, in all its complexity. These surveys are a chance to reclaim that truth, to document what’s happening, and to rebuild the foundations of courage and openness our creative world depends on.
It’s time to stop hiding and start speaking; honestly, confidentially, and without fear.
Please take part. Please share the links.
And please be as open as you can - every voice matters, every story counts.
With thanks to all who have supported us - especially Jenny Lindsay and Graham Linehan - for reminding us that art without freedom is not art at all.
Artists: https://forms.gle/WPV2M9gDrwpVfVoVA
Venues: https://forms.gle/nYPdT1WF2NvBxGuL7
Agents/Managers: https://forms.gle/nYPdT1WF2NvBxGuL7
#ArtWithoutFear #FreedomInTheArts #ArtistsVoices #FreeExpression
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This sounds brilliant. The arts are horrendous with their cancel culture. I suspect many in this industry parrot things they don't believe in order to avoid cancellation themselves. Hopefully your work will change things for the better.
A great idea. I suspect there are people who disagree with the gender woo but won't speak out for fear of losing their careers. This gives them the chance to express their views and. hopefully, embolden them to speak out if they know they aren't alone.