Page 115 - Post Summit_2019_AV

Can we debate freedom of expression? Tim Marlow, Artistic Director of the Royal Academy of Arts - Moderator Khaled Hourani, artist, writer and curator, Ramallah Alexander Kellner, Director, National Museum of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro Monica Narula, artist and co-founder of the Raqs Media Collective, Delhi While there is no doubt that freedom of expression can be debated, what should frame that debate, and are there really universal moral values that can be applied, or merely western ones that are misapplied globally? When it comes to creative freedom, what, if any, are the cultural responsibilities of artists and writers, museums and universities, and how much should we defend the right to offend? This was the subject of a discussion at Culture Summit Abu Dhabi 2019. Moderator Tim Marlow, Artistic Director of the Royal Academy of Arts, said: “What this debate isn’t going to be is an affirmation of western liberal values, in a preachy way, across the world. That isn’t universalism, it’s just one particular view.” 111