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In 2007...
• Freemuse reported news about music censorship from 57 different countries world-wide
• Freemuse got 706 new friends on MySpace.com
• This website, freemuse.org, had more than 250,000 unique visitors from 208 countries and territories who looked at 683,000 pages.
• 85 percent of these visitors were new – meaning that 2007 was the first time they visited freemuse.org. 20,000 visitors came back more than once.
Declaration demanding abolishment of Turkey's Article 301
Freemuse joined 29 non-governmental organisations releasing a joint declaration demanding abolishment of Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code, and other articles which violate freedom of expression. Read more
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Film festivals in Sweden and Denmark
On 9 and 10 February Pakistani rock star Salman Ahmad, and editor of Songlines, Simon Broughton, visited Denmark and Sweden to show three documentary films highlighting discussions concerning music and Islam. Film show and panel discussion with local artists in collaboration with Salaam.dk in end of February
Information about the events
Video from Salman Ahmad's presentation in Copenhagen
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Music Freedom Day
Saturday 3 March was 'Music Freedom Day 2007' where magazines, radio stations and TV broadcasters worldwide focused on music censorship. Production of video clips, sound files, signature song and media work. Read more |
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Developing Music Sectors
Freemuse joined a network meeting on Tuesday 13 March organised by International Music Council with the aim of discussing a strategy for music sector development in developing countries. Other participants were the Swedish National Concert Organisation, the Danish Arts Council and representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Norway and Finland.
Safe cities
In collaboration with Danish PEN, Freemuse on April 11 joined a call to the Danish government for establishing 'safe cities' for persecuted writers, musicians and artists. 'Safe cities' are a safe place to live and work, a refuge for creativity. Read more... |
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Journalist workshop / stringer course in South Africa
In March Freemuse organised a two-day workshop addressing experienced African journalists in the field of human rights – to upgrade their knowledge on music as a human right, and on music censorship issues. Read more |
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Marcel Khalife Visit
On April 10-11 Marcel Khalife visited Freemuse to discuss future collaborations and record a video interview. Khalife has been a keynote speaker at two Freemuse conferences and Freemuse has supported his struggle for freedom of expression in the Middle East.
'Spring of Culture' declaration in support of Marcel Khalife
Freemuse issued a declaration in support of Marcel Khalife's 'Spring of Culture' performance in Bahrain. It was read aloud in front of an audience at a cultural manifestation in Bahrain on 18 April 2007. A news alert about the situation in Bahrain was also distributed by e-mail to more than 1,500 journalists, organisations, and governmental bodies. Read more |
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Afghanistan book
Poet, musician, and human rights activist Samay Hamed collected stories of music censorship in Afghanistan for a book entitled 'The Cage is singing!'. He also produced a series of video interviews for Freemuse's web site.
Freemuse on MySpace
On 2 May Freemuse entered the world of MySpace and is immediately joined by many musicians as friends. Read more
'Shoot the Singer' in Italian language
Nobel prize winner Dario Fo introduces the Italian version of 'Shoot the Singer' which was published at the Torino International Book Fair on 12 May 2007. Read more
East African Music Network
Freemuse visited Ethiopia on 25-30 April to talk about music censorship for music organisations and music sector professionals from East Africa under the SEAMN network.
5th Gathering in Istanbul for Freedom of Expression
Freemuse joined sister organisations such as International Pen, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and International Publishers Association at the '5th G' summit which was organised by Turkish human rights activist Sanar Yurdatapan. 5th G reveals and discusses global and local freedom of expression issues.
Freemuse in Mexico
Organised by IASPM, The International Association for the study of Popular Music, Freemuse presented its work for leading scholars from all over the world in the last week of June. The presentation was joined by Mexican singer Andrés Contreras and US scholar and author Elijah Wald. Read Ole Reitov's speech
Read Andrés Contreras' speech
Conference on the Music in the World of Islam in Morocco
Member of Freemuse advisory board Annemette Kirkegaard and Freemuse report writer John Baily took part in an early August conference on music in the world of Islam. Together with researcher and musician Veronica Doubleday they raised questions on music censorship in the MENA region.
World Conference report
Freemuse launched the report “Music will not be silenced” on 3 August. The report summarises the sessions from the 3rd Freemuse World Conference on Music and Censorship in Istanbul. The report includes a CD-R featuring unique video and audio interviews with 13 of the musicians and speakers who took part in the event and two new songs recorded by artists who participated in the World Conference. Read more
freeDimensional Network
freeDimensional organises community arts space and local resources for the support and protection of individuals who create dialogue on global issues and inequalities through their art and media. In early August Freemuse, being a nominating organisation, joined a network meeting with artist in residency centres, human rights activists and artists collaborating through freeDimensional. The meeting developed models for short and long term collaborations. Read more on freedimensional.org
Clash within civilisations
In memory of the great Norwegian composer and humanist Edward Grieg, an international symposium was organised in Bergen, Norway, from 11-13 September. Denouncing Samuel Huntington’s theory of “Clash of Civilisations”, Freemuse programme officer Ole Reitov spoke on “Music censorship – the Clash within Civilisations”. Read Ole Reitov's speech
Freemuse Executive Committee meets in Paris
The Freemuse Executive Committee held its annual meeting in Paris from 15-16 September discussing future strategies and commitments. See videos of committee members
Exhibition about freedom of expression
On 25 September 2007, the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo opened the exhibition 'Freedom of Expression – How Free is Free?'. Freemuse assisted with material and information about musicians who are portrayed in the exhibition. Read more
Cultural studies, Switzerland
Freemuse director Marie Korpe spoke at an international seminar panel organised by Kulturwissenschaft und Europäische Ethnologie der Universität Basel in Switzerland.
Belarus report in Russian language
Freemuse published the report on music censorship in Belarus “Hidden Truths” in a Russian language download version, thus making it accessible to many non-english speaking readers in Russia and Belarus. Read more
Freemuse delegation in Izmir
When Turkish singer Ferhat Tunç entered the Izmir 10th High Criminal Court on Thursday 4 October, the court case was closely followed by an international delegation joining the Freemuse campaign for Ferhat Tunc. The singer could leave the court room as a free man. Read more
Music censorship in China
Focusing on restrictions on artistic creativity in China, Ole Reitov moderated a seminar in Malmö during Sound Around, The Řresund Biennale of Contemporary Music, on 14 October.
Freemuse festival in Guernica
Inspired by the work of Freemuse the 2nd edition of “Festival against censorship” took place in October in Spain. Highlighted by concerts, Freemuse joined the press launch and artists and intellectuals in a panel on censorship. Information about the festival
Report from the festival
Musician's visa problems addressed at Womex
More than 50 professionals from the World Music Sector met at the Womex trade fair in Seville on 25-28 October and decided to make a joint attempt to address the complex visa issues which festival organisers experience when they invite musicians from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Freemuse offered to host an organised collection of case stories to bring forward to the EU commission and the EU Parliament a paper which documents how visa procedures make it more an more difficult to bring in performing artists and cultural workers from developing countries. Read more...
Music, War and Re-conciliation
Musicologist Andrew Weintraub from University of Pittsburgh presented the work of Freemuse at the 52nd Annual Conference Society for Ethnomusicology in October in Ohio, USA. The overall theme of the conference was: “Music, War and Re-conciliation”.
Festival of Sacred Music
At the 1st Festival of Sacred Music in Uppsala, Sweden, on 2-5 November 2007, Ole Reitov joined Jonas Otterbeck, PhD in History of Religions with a special interest in Islam, at a seminar on “Music, power, censorship and religion”. Chaired by renowned writer and media professor Arne Ruth, the seminar focused on music censorship in Islamic countries.
Rewriting Music History
At an International Symposium for Histories of Popular Music, at Sibelius Academy Finland on 29 November 2007, Ole Reitov proposes new ways of describing music history from the perspective of the effects and mechanisms of music censorship. The purpose of the symposium is to acknowledge and discuss the various ways in which traditional music history is challenged by emergent critical and cultural views, de-canonising our conventional understandings of the musical past.
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