Against self-censorship and political correctness

Over-sensitive political correctness is damaging freedom of expression, the Festival of Dangerous Ideas was told.
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Performer Seeta Patel in DV8’s Can We Talk About This? Photograph: Oliver Manzi

Perhaps one of the most dangerous ideas today is not being discussed. While artists decry external censorship, we are quick to self censor, avoiding any reference to race, gender or sexuality that might be viewed as offensive.

British choreographer, dancer and DV8 verbatim theatre producer Lloyd Newson believes that we are in peril of our ever heightening “PC” monitor getting in the way of freedom of speech.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina