07 Aug 18 | Magazine, News and features, Volume 47.02 Summer 2018 Extras
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What does paradise mean to you? A pina colada on a white-sand beach? A beautiful sunset over Mayan ruins? The summer 2018 issue of Index on Censorship magazine looks at some of the world’s most popular “paradise” destinations and asks whether their reality quite lives up to their reputation (hint, it doesn’t, especially when it comes to free expression). But criticise these places all you like, the concept of paradise at least, whether lost or found, has been quite the inspiration for a lot of iconic music. Here we pick our top tracks in tribute to the theme. We hope you enjoy listening, sort of.
Holiday by Madonna
Ah Holiday by Madonna, that quintessential going away hit, especially when it first came out in the 80s. This song is pretty syrupy, we’re not going to lie. Madonna calls for everybody to “put [their] trouble down” for a day and celebrate. There’s not really a hint that holiday doesn’t always equal everything being great. But what if you’re a tourist in Baja Mexico Sur, where you might very well see bodies of those involved in the drug trade dangling from bridges, as Stephen Woodman explores in the magazine? Not such a holiday then is it Madge?
Holidays in the Sun by the Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols actually have experienced a holiday gone wrong, when they went to the island of Jersey and were kicked out. So they switched the sunshine for several weeks in Berlin instead. And this inspired their song Holidays in the Sun, in which they want you to “see some history” and visit “the new Belsen”. It’s basically a really catchy way of arguing for visiting grittier places.
Paradise by Coldplay
Coldplay’s song Paradise is about dreams dashed, in this case that of a girl who grows up in a world that is far from paradise and can only access it through her dreams. It reminds us of the superb short story by contributing editor Kaya Genç, who writes about an elderly man in Turkey who looks back on his life, his expectations for paradise and what became of them.
Cruel Summer by Bananarama
Admittedly this is less about a destination gone bad and more about not being able to go to said destination. There are lines like “My friends are away and I’m on my own.” Summer is cruel because summer is about staying put. But maybe that’s for the best? What’s so great about going to a destination that is tumbling down a free speech index? Just some food for thought Bananarama.
Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
At the song’s centre is the moon. The moon! Who hasn’t stared at the starry sky when abroad as a holiday highlight? And yet… it’s a bad moon. The lyrics are nothing short of foreboding; “I see trouble on the way” for example. Despite the downbeat lyrics, the melody remains pretty upbeat. Sort of like being a tourist in Sri Lanka, where you’re surrounded by beautiful sites but also the legacy of war.
Holiday by Dizzee Rascal
Talk about making an offer you can’t refuse – Dizzee Rascal invites the object of his affections away on what sounds like the ideal vacation (or two or three – take your pick from the South of France, Ibiza or Milan). There’ll be champagne and a sun tan. Perfect! But why no mention of Malta or the Maldives or those other beautiful hotspots? Maybe Dizzee ran out of line space or maybe Dizzee circa 2009 foresaw the issues that would affect these areas by 2018.
Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley
Go to a beach bar in the Caribbean, that ultimate holiday destination, and you’d be hard pressed not to hear Bob Marley. For many a visitor he is the soundtrack of the region. And yet as much as his songs are soothing, they are also very political. Marley was a man who would not gloss over the darker sides of paradise. For this reason, we like to think if he was alive today he would have contributed to our issue. Buffalo Soldier, a reminder of the history of slavery in the USA and the Caribbean, is case in point. Easy to enjoy, until you actually listen to the lyrics.
Holiday by Green Day
Our third and final offering with holiday in the title and yet the only one of the three songs that isn’t in total praise of a vacation. Green Day’s tribute to your time off talks less about nice things and instead looks at US political conservatism under George W. Bush and the Iraq war. The chorus’ line – “This is our lives on holiday” – attacks US apathy. Released in 2005 but certainly still relevant to different areas of the world today.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”top”][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Trouble in Paradise” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:24|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2018%2F06%2Ftrouble-in-paradise%2F|||”][vc_column_text]The summer 2018 issue of Index on Censorship magazine takes you on holiday, just a different kind of holiday. From Malta to the Maldives, we explore how freedom of expression is under attack in dream destinations around the world.
With: Martin Rowson, Jon Savage, Jonathan Tel [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”100842″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/06/trouble-in-paradise/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1481888488328{padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Subscribe” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:24|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fsubscribe%2F|||”][vc_column_text]In print, online. In your mailbox, on your iPad.
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02 Aug 18 | Artistic Freedom, Event Reports, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]“When I started recording my music I made the decision that I would be out. But at the same time I was so conscious of using pronouns and not coming across as too gay or not coming across too assuming,” said MNEK, English singer, songwriter and record producer, speaking at the Sonos Store in London.
Expression Uncensored, which was hosted by Sonos, Index on Censorship and Gay Times Magazine, featured a panel — Julia Farrington, associate art producer at Index, MNEK, Sado Opera, a queer band, and Princess Julia, a DJ and music writer — that discussed queer music and censorship around the world.
Farrington defined the two main types of censorship that she believes exist — classic state-sponsored censorship imposed through laws and government, and self-censorship.
MNEK’s self-censoring in the beginning of his career was the result of societal pressures. While he said that his coming out was in general a positive experience, he also talked about growing up in a British-Nigerian household where the only thing you hear about homosexuality is that it is wrong. After coming out to his parents, MNEK said that while they support his career and the music he produces, they are sometimes still shocked because “it’s not something they’re used to but it’s all about them learning. There’s nothing wrong with learning something new.”
Living in London, Princess Julia said she had never faced state-sponsored censorship. Instead she faced self-censorship as a result of cultural pressures to look and be a certain way. As part of the Blitz Kids of the 1970s, she helped usher in an era of queer people being able to express themselves the way they wanted to.
She believes that “there’s always been avant garde scenes, underground scenes going on. In times of repression or rebellion even, these scenes tend to emerge. Obviously in Russia, that why there are pockets of creative people striving forth and trying to have an identity.”
Hailing from Russia, Sado Opera faced more state-sponsored censorship, which, in general, leads to self-censorship for fear of being targeted.
Sado Opera was originally created to fight the censorship and homophobia in Russia. The group talked about Russia’s homosexual propaganda law, which forbids talking about homosexuality in public. The name of the law was changed to Promoting Untraditional Family Values to hide the homophobia of the government. The government gives laws unassuming names to make it harder for people to discern the malicious intent behind the legislation, Sado Opera explained.
“Other artists might want to express support, but they can’t. The atmosphere makes you double-think what you say” said Sado Opera.
Although MNEK hasn’t experienced the level of state-sponsored censorship that Sado Opera has, he talks about how he hasn’t been to Nigeria in a long time because of unconscious “fears and my own insecurities with going back there and knowing the legislative issues that are there.”
Sado Opera was only able to be more open about their message when they moved to Berlin, where they have sponsorship from a club and have partnered with several organisations that support LGBTQ+ people facing persecution and women who have survived rape.
MNEK said “it’s a bonus when you realise your music is helping someone live their life” and each artist revealed similar sentiments. [/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_column_text]
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Index encourages an environment in which artists and arts organisations can challenge the status quo, speak out on sensitive issues and tackle taboos.
Index currently runs workshops in the UK, publishes case studies about artistic censorship, and has produced guidance for artists on laws related to artistic freedom in England and Wales.
Learn more about our work defending artistic freedom.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_single_image image=”101971″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”101969″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
27 Jun 17 | Artistic Freedom, Magazine, News and features, Volume 46.02 Summer 2017 Extras
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Music has an undeniable ability to move people; musicians can reach across borders and boundaries, pull at the heartstrings and say the unsayable. As a result, music has long been used to call for revolution, urging listeners to rise up against injustice and power. For the launch of Index on Censorship magazine’s summer 2017 issue, 100 Years On: What difference Russia’s revolution makes to our freedom today, we have compiled a playlist themed around the idea of revolution.
Tracy Chapman – Talkin ‘Bout A Revolution
In a world gripped by the denouement of the Cold War, Tracy Chapman saw change on the horizon. “Poor people gonna rise up /And get their share/ Poor people gonna rise up/And take what’s theirs” sums up the sentiment of Talkin ‘Bout A Revolution. Optimistic, perhaps, but the song arrived in 1988, at the cusp of a global uprising that saw the fall of Apartheid South Africa, the Soviet Union and several smaller communist regimes, as well as a Western ideological shift away from the ruthless capitalism of Thatcher and Reagan.
Gil Scott-Heron – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised was released in 1970, at the end of a turbulent decade that saw the assassinations of several civil rights heroes including John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Fred Hampton. It calls on people to unite and take action beyond watching a television screen, warning that the revolution will not come with the glitz and glamour of television, and that the television will not be on their side. Gil Scott-Heron, an important figure and musician during the US Civil Rights movement, is keen to call for realistic understandings of how change can be achieved in this song.
The Specials – Nelson Mandela
The Specials’ Nelson Mandela drew popular attention to Mandela’s mistreatment in South Africa when it was released in 1984, bringing the injustice of his then two-decade imprisonment into common knowledge. When it was performed at a Wembley concert on Mandela’s 70th birthday in 1988, its chorus of “free Nelson Mandela” became a global rallying cry for the end of apartheid. Two years later, Mandela walked out of prison, and the apartheid regime fell shortly after.
David Zé – Mwangolé (O guerrilheiro)
One of Angola’s most renowned revolutionary artists, David Zé is particularly adept in his descriptions of the suffering and abuse of Angolans under Portuguese colonial rule. Mwangolé O guerrilheiro may not call for a specific course of revolutionary action, but its representation of the enduring pain and intolerable living conditions of Angolans remind listeners of what can drive a person to risk everything and revolt for their freedom. In a country that suffered through a generation-long civil war, that context can never be forgotten.
Carlos Puebla –Y en eso llego Fidel
“The fun was over, El Comandante came and ordered them to stop”, Puebla sings in this famous hymn to the Cuban revolution. Throughout the song, Carlos Puebla celebrates Castro’s arrival and overtake of the island, putting an end to capitalism’s prior corruption and exploitation of the island’s people. The droves of people who fled the subsequent corruption and exploitation by Castro’s communist regime might dispute the song’s celebratory tone.
The Korean People’s Army State Merited Chorus – Defend the Headquarters of the Revolution (혁명의 수뇌부 결사옹위하리라)
In North Korea, even revolutionary music – what should be defined and expressed by the people, free of censorship – is an unyielding expression and promotion of state power. Defend the Headquarters of the Revolution provides no mention of Korean culture or history preceding Kim Jong II, instead extolling the virtue of picking up arms for the Kims and fighting to the death, viewing this fight as a revolution against the rest of the world.
Vasily Agapkin – Farewell of Slavianka
Farewell of Slavianka (Proshchaniye slavyanki) became so popular during the 1917 Revolution that, despite its non-communist roots, the Soviet Union eventually adopted it as an official national song. This piece represents two fundamental components of revolution: popular sentiment during the people’s initial rebellion, and post-revolutionary appropriation of that sentiment into state propaganda.
Yulduz Usmonova – Ayting Ayting
Songs which explicitly detail Soviet occupation in Uzbekistan are scarce. However, songs sung in Uzbek instead of Russian (especially before the country’s independence) have long served as expressions of nationalism and rejection of the Russian hierarchy. Ayting Ayting is not a typical revolutionary song, but its defiance lies in its subtle refusal to conform to Russian norms.
Yoko Ono and John Lennon – Imagine
“Imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do, nothing to kill or die for”, sings John Lennon. This song co-written by Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono asks us to contemplate a different kind of revolution – not a singular uprising or struggle, but a new peaceful world where the divisions of religion and nationality have disappeared. The chorus of “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one” hints at the faint possibility of this future, if people could only come together long enough to realise how similar they are. In a sad irony, he was eventually assassinated by a mentally ill Christian extremist who considered this blasphemy.
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – Ohio
The Vietnam War and its national impact are deeply entrenched within US society, and have inspired countless pieces of art, film and music. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s song Ohio was written in response to the 1970 Kent State University massacre, in which national guard soldiers opened fire on anti-war student protesters leaving four dead and nine wounded. The song was released just a few weeks after the incident, and placed the blame directly on the Richard Nixon administration. It was soon adopted as an anthem of the US’s anti-establishment movement.
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Print copies of Index on Censorship magazine are available on Amazon, or you can find information about print or digital subscriptions here. Copies are also available at the BFI, the Serpentine Gallery, MagCulture, (London), News from Nowhere (Liverpool), and Home (Manchester). Each magazine sale helps Index on Censorship continue its fight for free expression worldwide
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”top”][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”100 Years On” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:24|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2017%2F06%2F100-years-on%2F|||”][vc_column_text]Through a range of in-depth reporting, interviews and illustrations, the summer 2017 issue of Index on Censorship magazine explores how the consequences of the 1917 Russian Revolution still affect freedoms today, in Russia and around the world.
With: Andrei Arkhangelsky, BG Muhn, Nina Khrushcheva[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”91220″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/magazine”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1481888488328{padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Subscribe” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:24|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fsubscribe%2F|||”][vc_column_text]In print, online. In your mailbox, on your iPad.
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19 Apr 17 | Awards, Awards Update, News and features, Youth Board
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Since winning the Freemuse Award for Music in 2010, Mahsa Vahdat has continued to use her music to fight for freedom of expression for the women of Iran. Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, female solo vocalists are permitted to perform only for female audiences; they cannot perform for men except when part of a chorus as conservative clerics say women’s voices have the power to trigger immorality and arousal.
But Vahdat learned music as a child and went on to study it at university in Tehran. She was encouraged to perform there despite the strict new rules of the Islamic Revolution. Not only does she sing but she also plays the piano and the setar, a Persian string instrument that’s a member of the lute family. Now she has taken that freedom to the Iranian diaspora and world music circles across the globe, performing at international venues where her voice is not discriminated against on the basis of her gender. She refers back to the classical Iranian poets – Rumi, Khayyam and Hafez – as well as using contemporary poetry.
Vahdat’s commitment to fight for her right to sing often meets obstacles; in 2011 she gave a concert at the residence of the Italian embassy in Tehran despite the attempts of the government security forces to stop guests from entering the building. But she has built a following around the world, especially in Norway after touring schools there and presenting a positive, musical image of Iran. In 2011 she released the album Twinklings of Hope with her sister to critical acclaim and has gone on to collaborate with other performers such as Mighty Sam McClain.
Despite the conservatism of her homeland she still teaches Persian singing in Tehran, ensuring that the tradition of both folk music and that of the female artist stays alive. She continues to be an ambassador for the Freemuse Organization which advocates freedom of expression for musicians and composers across the world.
Sophia Smith-Galer is a member of Index on Censorship’s Youth Advisory Board. She is an MA student studying Broadcast Journalism at City University in London. She studied Spanish and Arabic previously at Durham University.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”85476″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2016/11/awards-2017/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards
Seventeen years of celebrating the courage and creativity of some of the world’s greatest journalists, artists, campaigners and digital activists
2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1492506354793-87f74769-0713-9″ taxonomies=”2562, 7359″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
