Art and Identity Politics

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Most people agree that society works best when we find common ground. But some have argued that identity politics – divisive alliances based upon race, gender, cultural or religious background – has created a dangerous and exclusionary climate.

The ongoing culture war reached a particularly ugly climax following the attempted murder of the novelist Salman Rushdie by a 25-year-old US-born male of Lebanese background at the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York this year. Ironically, Rushdie was about to give a talk about the US being a safe haven for exiled writers. When author of bestselling Harry Potter novels JK Rowling expressed her shock on Twitter after hearing about the attack, she received a death threat: ‘Don’t worry you are next.’ Sadly, this is nothing new for Rowling, who has received many threats from trans-rights activists online after expressing her gender-critical beliefs.

Critics of identity politics argue that it can sometimes seem like any critical response to things like Islamist extremism or trans ideology results in censorious and damaging accusations of Islamophobia or transphobia. Since 1989, when, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa condemning Salman Rushdie to death for alleged blasphemy in his novel The Satanic Verses, some have argued that there has been a move towards what Observer columnist Kenan Malik called the ‘internalisation of the fatwa’. Society risks clamping down on freedom of expression for fear of offending minority-identity groups.

The art world has been faster to cancel, disinvite, and attack artists and writers than most. Not through wielding a knife or gun, but censoring those who go against the grain of identity politics. Trans-exclusionary radical feminist artists (unkindly called TERFs) have particularly felt the brunt. Black and Asian writers who reject what the black American scholar and linguist John McWhorter has termed ‘woke racism’, are often labeled traitors and Uncle Toms. Meanwhile, ex-Muslims or Muslim reformists who criticise Islam are viewed as heretics, apostates, and infidels.

While some argue that identity politics is merely the vehicle through which minority voices have gained a space to be heard, others argue that intersectionality is a problem. What some have termed ‘oppression olympics’ has provoked a race to the bottom between the politics of gender, race, sexual orientation, religion and disability, with the ‘straight, white male’ as the ultimate symbol of oppression. This feeling was evidenced by art commissioners Artichoke’s invitation to artists to create billboards in response to the phrase: ‘Straight White Male.’

Is identity-based politics a force for good in society and the world of art for tackling systemic oppression? Or is it a sideshow, paling into insignificance when serious issues like the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the failure of the free market and the global cost-of-living crisis come to the fore? Does identity politics lead to good art being produced? Or is identity-based or ‘woke’ politics in danger of creating a ‘You Can’t Paint That’ culture in the arts?

Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art invites you to join the fifth discussion within the Culture Tensions series. In this cycle of public conversations with artists, writers, curators, and thinkers we hope to offer fresh, diverse perspectives on the pressing issues of our times.

There will be plenty of time for audience participation and a Q&A session. Please join us.