Artistic Expression
The Issue
Artistic expression is currently being endangered by the fragmentation of society into increasingly inward-focused social groupings that reject alternative perspectives and questions to their taken-for-granted reality.
Why It Matters
Artistic expression has been a principal way in which the most important aspects of our common humanity have come to be understood and communicated.
Our Work
The Centre for Free Expression engages the public in dialogue about the importance of artistic expression and supports artists when there are attempts to restrict or suppress their work. The Centre is particularly interested in how social media contributes to the fragmentation of society and the chilling of artistic expression.
Resources
BPC Bulletin: The Gabriels Resume Their Legal Campaign Against Mike Ward
February 4, 2022 - In Quebec, the Gabriels have resumed their legal campaign against stand-up comedian Mike Ward.
Black Stand-Up Comedy as Cultural Critique
Terrence Tucker in conversation with Vershawn Young
BPC Bulletin: The Supreme Court of Canada Rules on Ward v. Quebec
November 13, 2021 - The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled in Mike Ward’s favour in a case that pitted the comedian’s right to free expression over singer Jérémy Gabriel’s right to dignity as defined by Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
Black Stand-Up Comedy as Cultural Critique
Terrence Tucker in conversation with Vershawn Young
BPC Bulletin: Proposed Shortening of Poetry Book Provokes Mi'kmaw Poet
June, 1 2021 - In Nova Scotia, the Department of Education and Rebecca Thomas, a Mi’kmaw poet, have clashed over the proposed publication of a school edition of her poems.