PRESSEMELDING
Europe Must Act: The Bratislava Declaration Calls for Legal Protection of Artistic Freedom
(Bratislava): – The concluding outcome of the international conference Open Culture!, held on 29–30 May at Stará tržnica in Bratislava, is the Bratislava Declaration for Artistic Freedom. The document responds to the growing threats to independent culture and artistic freedom within European Union member states. Cultural organisations, artists, experts, and representatives of international platforms have come together to issue a clear call to the EU: We must break the silence – it is time to protect democracy through culture.
The Declaration calls for the immediate recognition of a cultural crisis spreading across Europe, which is already seriously undermining democratic processes in several countries. Its signatories urge the creation of a European Artistic Freedom Act – a specific legislative instrument of the EU that would ensure systemic protection of artistic expression, creative freedom, and the independence of cultural institutions across all member states.
„The European Artistic Freedom Act must not be seen as a symbolic gesture but as a necessary tool for safeguarding artistic freedom and the rule of law throughout the EU,” emphasize the signatories of the Bratislava Declaration.¨
The Bratislava Declaration is a call to action – directed at the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the member states. It underscores that culture is not a peripheral issue but lies at the very heart of the struggle for democracy in Europe.
The signatories call for:
● transparent and professionally managed allocation of public resources,
● legal certainty and institutional independence for cultural leadership,
● respect for the plurality of opinions, forms, and themes in art,
● protection of creators from discrimination and persecution.
The Declaration also announces the formation of an international working group that will, in collaboration with EU institutions, begin preparing a draft of the European Artistic Freedom Act.
Among the signatories of the Bratislava Declaration are Slovak initiatives Open Culture!, Anténa – Network for Independent Culture, Students for Open Culture! (ŠOK!), as well as international organisations including AEC (Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen), Artistic Freedom Initiative, Culture Action Europe, ETC – European Theatre Convention, European Alliance of Academies, ICOM SEE – South East Europe Alliance, Opera Europa, PEARLE – Live Performance Europe, Resistance Now Together, Trans Europe Halles*, and Wiener Festwochen.
The Bratislava Declaration was formulated as the final output of the two-day international conference Open Culture!, which focused on open dialogue about the state of culture, artistic freedom, and cultural policy in Europe. The event brought leading experts, artists, representatives of international cultural organisations, and public figures from across Europe to Bratislava – more than 40 speakers from 17 European countries.
Over the course of two days, the conference welcomed more than 400 attendees, with over 20 journalists accredited from both Slovakia and abroad.
Bratislava, June 2 2025
