Page 116 - Post Summit_2019_AV

112 Monica Narula, artist and co-founder of the Raqs Media Collective in Delhi, said: “When we talk about freedom of expression, we normally mean freedom of speech, but freedom of speech is just a subset of the idea of freedom of expression.” She said freedom of speech was about an individual’s relationship with the state, whereas freedom of expression was more of a human experience. “It is conversations between mothers and daughters, I would argue, that determine how freedom gets constituted or changed in other realms,” said Ms Narula, suggesting that freedom of expression starts in the home with choices made on the micro-level. “What you read, what you eat, how you permit yourself to be touched, how you will live. These questions start in that context.” Freedom of speech also comes with the freedom to listen. “Are we only paying attention to actions or are we also paying attention to the intention and consequence of that?” The Ramallah-based artist Khaled Hourani expanded on the notions of freedom of speech and listening, to include the freedom to be silent. “When we think about freedom of speech in the region it raises the issue of politics rather than cultural issues,” he said. “What people are facing in our time in Palestine and in other areas, isn’t only thinking about this issue in local areas but in a wider context.” Mr Hourani suggested that we are entering a new world order in which conflict has seeped into every issue. However, he said the Culture Summit was a source of hope. “We need to listen to each other and we could use art as an opportunity to understand each other and to achieve a kind of hope for the coming generation, not only in war zones but everywhere.” Alexander Kellner, Director of the National Museum of Brazil, spoke of the different ways in which freedom of expression could be understood,