Under Pressure: Culture as a Democratic Battleground

EN:

Presented by Kulturdirektoratet

What happens when the support system disappears, and independence is replaced by political pressure?

Across Europe, culture is no longer just culture. It’s becoming a political battleground. Public funding disappears overnight, arm’s length principles are quietly dismantled, and political power is increasingly shaping who gets to create, perform, and be heard.

In Slovakia, 14,000 people took to the streets to protest what many describe as a systematic dismantling of the cultural sector – not as spectators, but because their own space to create is at risk.

In this conversation, historian and author Jonas Bals meets a representative from a cultural organisation that recently had its funding withdrawn by the Slovak Arts Council. Moderated by Erica Berthelsen, this session moves beyond headlines and into lived reality – a deep dive into the urgent questions facing artists and industry professionals:

What do you do when the funding disappears?

What happens to creative freedom when culture becomes a political tool?

And how far away is this from happening elsewhere?

This is not a distant story. It’s a warning from Slovakia.

Moderator: Erica Berthelsen (Arts and Culture Norway)

Panelists: Jonas Bals (LO), TBA