9 August 2019
Statement on the Cancellation of ‘After Freedom of Expression?’ at the Aichi Triennale: FromRepression of the Freedom of Expression and Art to a More Developed and Mature Democracy
Sumiko Kumakura
Chairperson
The Japan Association for Cultural Policy Research
The Japan Association for Cultural Policy Research is an academic society comprised of researchersand practitioners interested in cultural policy.
Article 21 of the Constitution of Japan guarantees “freedom of expression” and prohibits censorship.
According to the preamble to the Fundamental Law of Culture and the Arts, culture and the arts “providea ground for people to connect, understand and respect each other.” They “create a spiritually richsociety where people can accept diversity, [and] contribute to world peace.” In addition, it is claimed
that “in order to promote culture and the arts, the importance of freedom of expression, which is thefoundation of culture and the arts is strongly recognized. Furthermore, the independence of practitioners
who engage in arts and cultural activities is respected.”“Freedom of expression” and “prohibition of censorship” have long been protected as the foundationof a democratic nation, through cultural legislation such as the Constitution and the Fundamental Lawof Culture and the Arts. “Freedom of expression” is a principle which works to prevent publicauthorities from intervening in the independent expression of individuals and groups. It is also a concept
aimed to prevent inappropriate political involvement in projects that receive subsidies from thegovernment. From the perspective of arts and culture promotion policy, it is never desirable for politicalintervention to demand changes to any project. Nevertheless, the reality is that intervention and selfrestriction are common in the case of art that contains political messages. Artists and the curators who
support them engage in self-censorship. Since it is essential to keep a certain distance between theiractivities and government policies and perspectives, as well as to ensure freedom of expression andartistic autonomy, it is important that evaluation of content and quality should be entrusted to arts andculture professionals.
On 3 August 2019, the exhibition “After ‘Freedom of Expression?’”, which is a part of the 2019 Aichi
Triennale, was canceled. We would like to clarify our position on the following three points related tothis incident.
(1) The exhibition stirred up an avalanche of protests by phone, including threats, which disrupted thework of the project office in a way not dissimilar to terrorist threats. No matter how incompatible theexhibition might be with one’s beliefs, the attempt to deal with it by resorting to violence is despicableand cannot be tolerated. Our Association thoroughly rejects the violence and intimidation that havegiven rise to this situation. We demand that all such threats of violence and intimidation be properly
investigated and punished accordingly.
(2) High-ranking government officials, as well as leaders and other members of the local legislature,
have made a number of public statements against the contents of the exhibition. The government must
recognize that careful consideration is required to guarantee that diversity and autonomy of expression
is maximized, regardless of the political stances involved. Moreover, it is not an exaggeration to saythat the government officials and local legislators--who should be devoting all of their energies topreventing violence--are in effect encouraging those who threaten violence.
(3) The exhibition was forced to close because the organizer decided to self-restrict and self-censor. If
the cancellation is due to administrative challenges we believe it should resume as fully as possible after
those challenges have been overcome and when safety can be ensured.

The Japan Association for Cultural Policy Research is concerned that freedom of expression and thearts is being exposed to serious crisis at the site of this cultural venture, which is attracting attention not
only inside Japan but around the globe. At the same time, we are deeply concerned that the space forfreedom of speech in art festivals, public museums, cultural facilities, etc. that receive public funding
will shrink even further, and that this may further limit the freedom of expression and the arts fromdifferent political and social positions.
The Japan Association for Cultural Policy Research is not focusing on a problem limited to a single art
festival. We, together with the government, citizens, artists, and arts and culture professionals, aredevoted to creating a place for wide-ranging dialogue and discussion. As long as they contribute todemocracy, the arts and culture should be a field where a wide variety of opinions and expressions arerespected, even though they may be contrary to those of the majority. The Association sees this incident
as an opportunity to deepen discussions of freedom of expression and the arts, and to build a moredeveloped and mature democracy in Japan through academic research on cultural policy, and practice.