Agnieszka Kolek

Wednesday

Agnieszka Kolek

Few feminists dare criticise Islam. To see why, look at the ones who do

Over the weekend, a Muslim conference held near Paris was interrupted when two Femen activists stormed the stage during a talk given by two fundamentalist preachers. The focus of the talk was on the role of women in Islam and, according to Inna Shevchenko - Femen's founder member -  they were discussing why husbands should not beat their wives. The topless activists were then forcibly removed from the stage and kicked aggressively by a number of the event organisers. Irony doesn't even cover it. https://twitter.com/femeninna/status/643192806736007168 It's easy to dismiss this as yet more bare-breasted attention seeking from Femen protesters, and in a way, it is.

Saturday

Agnieszka Kolek

Copenhagen shooting: we debated free speech despite the gunfire – we will not surrender

I was invited to Lars Vilks* Committee in Copenhagen to present Passion for Freedom London Art Festival. The committee is organised annually, on the anniversary of Salman Rushdie's fatwa. The meeting started with a short introduction from one of the organizers followed by François Zimeray, the French ambassador, commemorating Charlie Hebdo and discussing the challenges that we face when it comes to the threats to freedom of speech and democracy in our countries. After a short introduction, Inna Shevchenko opened the panel and started to talk about Femen and her work. She also discussed her close friendship with Charb, the editor of Charlie Hebdo, and how they both stood strong exercising their right to freedom of expression.