Report on Beneben 1 by Tonya Sudiono and Emmanuel Lambion
How do different actors in the art field – artists, curators and art critics – balance the line between artistic freedom and freedom of speech on the one hand, and resistance and solidarity on the other? On 28 and 29 November 2025, AICA Belgium & AICA Netherlands organized the No Object, No Subject, No Drama, Really? in Brussels to spark a discussion on the topic of censorship and self-censorship in the arts.
This was the first iteration of BENEBEN encounters, an initiative sponsored by AICA NL and AICA Belgium and which received the support of AICA International. The project aims to foster mutual exchanges and debate between two national sections of AICA international, associations that are rather similar in context and background. While this first edition took place in Belgium, the following episode will be held in 2026 in the Netherlands and will be primarily organized by AICA NL.
The first day of BENEBEN 1 centered on the symposium with
four external panelists and three to four members of AICA sharing their experience. Under the title ‘No Object, No Subject, No Drama, Really?’ – inspired by the work of artist Wobbe Micha – , participants explored their experiences with political sensitivities in artistic projects. The second day consisted of exhibition visits at BOZAR and various galleries, art centers and private foundations.
Morning Program: Welcome Get together and Visit of (Not) All is Gold, Cloud Seven
Before the symposium kicked off, participants were invited for a guided tour at the exhibition ‘(Not) All is Gold’ at Cloud Seven, which was curated by AICA Belgium’s President Emmanuel Lambion.
Cloud Seven is an art space from private collector Frédéric de Goldschmidt. It hosts two exhibitions per year, showcasing a selection of works from Goldschmidt’s collection, and other selected works. ‘(Not) All Is Gold’ explores the notion of value in art, whether it be intrinsic or metaphoric, subverted or enhanced, protocol-based and linked to the respective economies of the partakers (artists, collectors, institutions etc).
Symposium
After this visit, the symposium stricto sensu, operating under the Chatham House rule of not photographing, recording or quoting without permission, was then opened by Joke de Wolf (president AICA Netherlands) and Emmanuel Lambion (president AICA Belgium). The symposium deliberately encompassed on different angles under which censorship can arise. The panel of speakers was diverse and reflected the way art workers, critics, artists and curators could be confronted to censorship & self-censorship. The panel featured four keynote speakers
Two artists Wobbe Micha and Anna Raimondo who in conversation with Emmanuel Lambion exposed the way their work had been subject to forms of censorship / pressure to adapt, one in the curated section of an art fair, the other whilst being invited to a triennial.
Wobbe Micha's work Pas d’Objet, Pas de Sujet, Pas de Drame proposal was not explictly censored, yet faced discrimination in the curated section of an art fair in the Netherlands. This led his gallerist to the commission of the eponymous paper of this symposium – No Object, no Subject, No Drama, really? – paper to a Belgian art cirtic and curator, who later exhibited the project.
Anna Raimondo offered a small retake of her earlier performance Nada que declarar. After a silent powerpoint presentation asking questions to the audience, Raimondo walked toward the front of the room from the back dressed only with the loudspeaker around her waist. During the Triennale d’art contemporain d’Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, curated by Emmanuel Lambion, Raimondo was invited to perform the sound art installation. In this performance, she shared the vibrations of the ecosystem of her vulva with a loudspeaker that she wore on her naked body, mirroring specific archetypal nudes in European classic art. By doing so, she critically examined the role of female nudity in art. And she made that statement during the symposium once more.
It remains striking that nudity, which forms such an evident part of our classical beaux-arts heritage, is continues to face potential restrictions. Until the day preceding the opening of the triennnial, it was uncertain whether Raimondo would be perform to perform live. The performance ultimately went ahead, justified by the notion that a prohibition might itself provoke more media attention.
One independent curator whose name we will not disclose, who addressed how the artistic environment in Europe had changed from the nineties until now. If the bandwith of what is “allowed” in the arts is diminishing, it’s a dangerous sign. Not only for artistic freedom, but for democracy in general.
One institutional curator Zippora Elders, currently senior curator at the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven) and former head of the curatorial department & outreach at Gropius Bau (Berlin). Zippora addressed in her presentation the fact that ‘by labeling art a “leftist hobby” [as far right politician Geert Wilders did in 2008], the radical right sidelined art. And therewith they sidelined evidential support for imagination and freedom of expression. Such strategic moves open the path towards anti-democratic thinking and ultimately fascism.’
These keynotes were followed by a row of contributions by AICA members
Joke de Wolf, president of AICA NL and independant art critic, explained the functioning and actions taken by AICA Censorship committee, not avoiding the evocation of different national sensibilities around some subjects. Joke namely evoked the role of Eric Otto Wear who created a toolkit for resisting censorship, Characteristic of an international community like AICA International is that not everyone always agrees on politically sensitive topics. At the same time, it’s what makes it interesting to be part of the community. We should at least be able to discuss difficult topics to form an opinion and to call out censorship signs by publishing statements.
Christine Bluard, current Director of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels evoked the situation brought about at the Africa Museum in Tervuren by a project by Teddy Mazina.
Tamara Beheyts independent curator and critic, member of a curatorial collective who exposed the decision still unresolved and open to debate in her opinion they took to limit the visibility of an exhibition project which contained a blatant and disturbing political emblem used as a ready made, whilst the artist refused at that stage to engage in an adequate mediation of his choice.
A variety of issues have been therefore addressed: from the intervention of curators who can be prohibited to touch upon sensitive topics like geopolitical conflicts by a director or board member to art festivals can be called back by the public. And how far should a curator go in protecting artistic freedom, when discriminating symbols show up in a work of art?
Or how art critics and curators should forge necessary alliances to defend the consistency and integrity of art projects, artworks or exhibitions.
Friday 28/11 eve & Saturday 29/11: Exhibition visits
After the closing of the symposium stricto sensu, followed a visit of the Brussels Ass Book Fair, organized by KANAL, showcasing independent artistic publishers focussing on LGBTQIA+ proposals and perspectives
The Saturday programme was dedicated to the broad scope of art centers / foundations / art spaces that Brussels has to offer, including:
VanHaerents Art Collection, VIEWING DEPOT EXH#03 and Elen ou Hubris (2020), a monumental tapestry by Brazilian artist Elen Braga
Parables, Fables, and Other Tall Tales – John Baldessari, BOZAR
Barrage – Yalda Afsah, KIN Gallery
Sourdre à la Verrière – Claudine Monchassé, Nicolas Bourthoumieux, Mountaincutters, Germaine Richier and others, Fondation d’Enterprise Hermès
In Search of the Ridiculous – Manuel Ocampo, Nosbaum & Reding. With an intro by AICA board member Raya Lindberg and guided tour by Ocampo.
Kay La Nansa – Inas Halabi, La Loge
Art and Language, 1965-2025, Fondation CAB
Conclusions : Navigating uncertain times
What became clear throughout the symposium is that censorship in the arts rarely announces itself as such. It operates through subtle mechanisms: a gallerist advising against being too political, museums navigating the process of decolonization, or uncertainty that lasts until the final day before a performance. Self-censorship, born from fear of losing positions or funding, may be an even more pervasive force than external censorship.
The cases presented during the symposium reveal a landscape where artists, curators, and critics are constantly negotiating invisible boundaries. What can be shown? What must be contextualized? Who decides? And perhaps most urgently: when does the demand for context or mediation itself become a form of silencing?
This context stresses the importance of AICA's role as an international community. A cross-pollination event like Beneben provides a space where these difficult conversations can happen, where disagreements are allowed, and where patterns of censorship can be recognized and addressed collectively. The cases of the keynote speakers and the Censorship Committee's work remind us that resistance to censorship requires both individual courage and collective solidarity.
As the symposium closed and participants dispersed to a book presentation, art book fair or restaurant, the question lingered: if the bandwidth of what is “allowed” in the arts continues to diminish, what does this signal for democracy itself? The answer, perhaps, lies in continuing to have these conversations and to push back when necessary.