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Thinking and Talking about the Arts in Southeast Asia

ArtsEquator.com is an online arts and culture platform that brings together information, events, ideas and people in Southeast Asia in one easily accessible, carefully curated site. The site’s primary objective is to promote arts and cultural discourses that are regionally-orientated and cross-genre.

08/06/2026

A snapshot overview of some of the RADAR findings from 2025 which documented violations of artistic freedom in 7 countries in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar. Read the full country reports that are now available on radar.artsequator.com!

[For access to the Myanmar report, please email [email protected] for the password. Please state your name, organisation and email address.]

28/05/2026

Our RADAR country reports examine key cases and provide detailed analysis of the state of artistic freedom in each country. Read them now on radar.artsequator.com .

26/05/2026

A return to more authoritarian leadership, recent armed conflicts and geopolitical realignments have negatively impacted civil and political spaces in Southeast Asia.

Against this backdrop, repercussions on artistic freedom are inevitable. In 2025, RADAR documented 159 challenges to artistic freedom in 7 countries in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Read the full country reports now on radar.artsequator.com and explore our searchable database which now has over 1000 cases of challenges to artistic and cultural freedom in Southeast Asia going back to 2010.

(For access to the Myanmar report, please email [email protected] for the password. Please state your name, organisation and email address.)

19/05/2026

When we piloted this project back in 2022, one of the most frequent questions we received was, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 6 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 11 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢? As a long term research project, our aim has always been to cover the region. While we may have started out with only 6 countries, we are continually finding ways and resources to add other countries in the region progressively over the next few years.

We’re happy to share that from last year, we’ve added Myanmar to our study. Our upcoming country report takes a look at the struggles for artistic freedom in Myanmar against its current political climate and the conditions that perpetuate oppression. Stay tuned and read all about it in the report coming out soon!

18/05/2026

A quick look at the number of documented cases of challenges to artistic freedom from 2010-2024 across 6 countries in Southeast Asia. The RADAR team has recently wrapped up its research for 2025 and we’ll be releasing the country reports soon. What trends and new findings did 2025 bring about? Which new country has been added to the study? Where have things shifted, and what has remained unchanged? Stay tuned to our page to find out.

06/05/2026

ICYMI, our pilot report on self-censorship is now out and here are what some artists and practitioners had to say about the state of self-censorship in Malaysia.

Read the full report now on radar.artsequator.com

15/04/2026

Read the first-ever report on self-censorship in the arts and cultural sector in Malaysia, commissioned by ArtsEquator and Five Arts Centre as part of the Southeast Asian Artistic Freedom Research and Documentation Resources (RADAR) and conducted by the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research.

The study explores the impact of self-censorship among artists and cultural workers in Malaysia, focusing on how it shapes creative practices, personal well-being, and broader cultural discourse. Drawing on five focus group discussions conducted in July 2025, the findings reveal both the pervasive influence of self-censorship and the diverse strategies employed by practitioners to navigate restrictive environments.

Read the full report now on radar.artsequator.com

02/04/2026

Catch the RADAR team in Kuala Lumpur this month for ‘s 𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 & 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆: 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 where we will be launching our newest report on self-censorship in Malaysia, and speaking more about the impact of regional geopolitics on artistic freedom in Vietnam and Thailand.

As a longtime advocate of artistic freedom in the region, we are excited to be part of this one-day event that is dedicated to exploring current trends, emerging challenges and effective responses in the realm of artistic freedom.

The conference hopes to create a critical space for open dialogue, shared learning, and cross-sector solidarity. It also aims to strengthen regional and global networks of support, and develop collective strategies to protect and advance artistic freedom in an increasingly challenging future.

To register and find out more, visit freedomfilm.my/conference2026

01/04/2026

Join us for the public launch of our new RADAR research report on self-censorship in Malaysia at ‘s 𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆: 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 taking place 15 April 2026 at AICB Centre for Excellence, Kuala Lumpur. To register and find out more, visit the link in our bio.

26/03/2026

We are pleased to announce the ArtsEquator–Esplanade Offstage Fellowship 2026, supporting new writing on contemporary performing arts in Singapore and Southeast Asia. In partnership with Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, Singapore, this initiative commissions and publishes new writing on the arts.

Our 2026 Fellows are: playwright and Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) Festival Director Chong Tze Chien, creative producer fezhah maznan, artist-educator Claire Teo and writer Daniel Peters. Selected jointly by both organisations, the fellows are cultural practitioners and writers. Their essays will be published on the Esplanade Offstage digital platform over the coming months.

At ArtsEquator, we remain committed to supporting critical writing as a vital part of the arts ecosystem.

Coming soon: new writing from our Fellows!

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