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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/02/plea-artistic-freedom-china
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Plea for artistic freedom in China | Plea for artistic freedom in China |
| (12 days later) | |
| As writers, artists, musicians, filmmakers and others active in cultural pursuits, we are inspired and enriched by the works of colleagues beyond our borders. The strength of our work individually, and our cultures collectively, is the fruit of a free exchange of information and ideas with the creative community across the world. Among our colleagues today are many creators and cultural figures in the People's Republic of China. We celebrate the growing international recognition of Chinese artists from all disciplines, a development exemplified by Mo Yan's 2012 Nobel prize for literature, and we welcome the ever-expanding avenues of cultural exchange. | As writers, artists, musicians, filmmakers and others active in cultural pursuits, we are inspired and enriched by the works of colleagues beyond our borders. The strength of our work individually, and our cultures collectively, is the fruit of a free exchange of information and ideas with the creative community across the world. Among our colleagues today are many creators and cultural figures in the People's Republic of China. We celebrate the growing international recognition of Chinese artists from all disciplines, a development exemplified by Mo Yan's 2012 Nobel prize for literature, and we welcome the ever-expanding avenues of cultural exchange. |
| We cannot, however, listen to China's great and emerging creative voices without hearing the silence of those whose voices are forcibly restrained. These include 2010 Nobel peace prize recipient Liu Xiaobo, who remains in prison; his wife, Liu Xia, who lives under house arrest; and more than 40 other writers and journalists currently jailed for their work. We cannot appreciate the accomplishments of Chinese creators across disciplines without thinking of the works we are not able to enjoy because of censorship in the arts, in the press, and on the internet – or of the many other works that cannot be imagined or created because of these constraints. The impact of these restrictions is set out vividly in a new Pen International report, Creativity and Constraint in Today's China. | We cannot, however, listen to China's great and emerging creative voices without hearing the silence of those whose voices are forcibly restrained. These include 2010 Nobel peace prize recipient Liu Xiaobo, who remains in prison; his wife, Liu Xia, who lives under house arrest; and more than 40 other writers and journalists currently jailed for their work. We cannot appreciate the accomplishments of Chinese creators across disciplines without thinking of the works we are not able to enjoy because of censorship in the arts, in the press, and on the internet – or of the many other works that cannot be imagined or created because of these constraints. The impact of these restrictions is set out vividly in a new Pen International report, Creativity and Constraint in Today's China. |
| Our plea to China's new leaders is simple. Respect and protect the right of our colleagues and all of China's citizens, to freedom of expression. Respect and protect the right of Chinese citizens to a free and independent press. Respect and protect the right of writers to write, publishers to publish, and artists of all disciplines to create and present their work without fear of reprisal. Release all those unjustly imprisoned for exercising this most fundamental right. Creativity is strength. Freeing China's creative voices will enrich us all. Cláudio Aguiar Edward Albee René Appel Anthony Appiah Antón Arrufat John Ashbery Paul Auster Russell Banks Gioconda Belli Andrei Bitov Eduardo Blandon Breyten Breytenbach Lydia Cacho JM Coetzee Edwidge Danticat Aline Davidoff Don DeLillo Antonio Della Rocca Kiran Desai EL Doctorow Tracey Emin Victor Erofeev Nuruddin Farah Moris Farhi Anthony Fleischer Charles Foran Marian Botsford Fraser Neil Gaiman Arthur Gawkwandi Juan Gelman Nadine Gordimer Juan Goytisolo AC Grayling Tarik Gunersel Eduardo Halfon Andrei Khadanovich Guenter Kunert Ola Larsmo Sonja Loots Alberto Manguel Emile Martel Myroslav Marynovych Tienchi Martin-Liao Ian McEwan Christopher Domínguez Michael Helmuth A Niederle Salman Rushdie Teresa Salema Raffaella Salierno Marjane Satrapi John Ralston Saul Will Self Elif Shafak Mohamed Sheriff Sjón Gillian Slovo Wole Soyinka Noémi Szécsi George Szirtes Colin Thubron Colm Tóibín Jarkko Tontti Tomas Tranströmer Luisa Valenzuela David Van Reybrouk Mario Vargas Llosa Marina Warner Richard Wentworth AB Yehoshua | Our plea to China's new leaders is simple. Respect and protect the right of our colleagues and all of China's citizens, to freedom of expression. Respect and protect the right of Chinese citizens to a free and independent press. Respect and protect the right of writers to write, publishers to publish, and artists of all disciplines to create and present their work without fear of reprisal. Release all those unjustly imprisoned for exercising this most fundamental right. Creativity is strength. Freeing China's creative voices will enrich us all. Cláudio Aguiar Edward Albee René Appel Anthony Appiah Antón Arrufat John Ashbery Paul Auster Russell Banks Gioconda Belli Andrei Bitov Eduardo Blandon Breyten Breytenbach Lydia Cacho JM Coetzee Edwidge Danticat Aline Davidoff Don DeLillo Antonio Della Rocca Kiran Desai EL Doctorow Tracey Emin Victor Erofeev Nuruddin Farah Moris Farhi Anthony Fleischer Charles Foran Marian Botsford Fraser Neil Gaiman Arthur Gawkwandi Juan Gelman Nadine Gordimer Juan Goytisolo AC Grayling Tarik Gunersel Eduardo Halfon Andrei Khadanovich Guenter Kunert Ola Larsmo Sonja Loots Alberto Manguel Emile Martel Myroslav Marynovych Tienchi Martin-Liao Ian McEwan Christopher Domínguez Michael Helmuth A Niederle Salman Rushdie Teresa Salema Raffaella Salierno Marjane Satrapi John Ralston Saul Will Self Elif Shafak Mohamed Sheriff Sjón Gillian Slovo Wole Soyinka Noémi Szécsi George Szirtes Colin Thubron Colm Tóibín Jarkko Tontti Tomas Tranströmer Luisa Valenzuela David Van Reybrouk Mario Vargas Llosa Marina Warner Richard Wentworth AB Yehoshua |
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