A0 of Freedom

A0 of Freedom project will bring together a community of art activists from Central Asia and the UK, and through exchanges and workshops will produce a public exhibition of posters that form a defiant call for the critical value of activists as agents for civil society. We believe that to find new narratives for the value of civil society we need to look in the darkest of places, and engage with people who are still able to use their voice despite the impossible context they operate in. As many activists in Central Asia say, ‘Silence is very popular here’. Kyrgyzstan, which has long been dubbed ‘the island of democracy’ in the region, has recently adopted the Foreign Agent bill; human rights, and anyone daring to speak for them, is threatened. Most activists are afraid to speak out. Negative, aggressive narratives against civil society have been used by the governments in the region for decades. So indeed we need new framing for the value of our civic work - and of activist artists ourselves.