Fourth Estate

Within less than one year, Italy dropped from 41st to 58th position in the World Press Freedom Index based on the ranking compiled and published annually by the French non-governmental organisation Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders).

Ayshia Taşkın, How Do You Draw A Line Under Pressure?, 2019–2020. Courtesy of WikiArt.

On the Bottom

As of 2020 and 2021, Italy ranked 41st in the World Press Freedom Index, compiled and published annually by the French non-governmental organisation Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders), among the lowest in Europe.

Alfred Freddy Krūppa, Censorship (Reductivism revisited), 2013. Courtesy of WikiArt.

玫瑰之名 (The Name of the Rose)

Chinese publishers have reportedly received orders that the number of foreign titles being printed must be cut to prevent an “ideology inflow”. [Read more].

• Benjamin Haas and Tom Phillips, Peppa Pig pulled: China cracks down on foreign children’s books, The Guardian, March 13, 2017

China has struggled to stem the flow of foreign cultural influences. Photo: Channel 5/PA.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Tel Aviv, Israel: A Muslim woman wearing a hijab stands next to a woman wearing a bikini in the Mediterranean Sea. A Nice court finally suspended the burkini ban in France this week after city authorities had defied a ruling by the country’s highest administrative court. Photo: Baz Ratner/Reuters.

Arcovazzi and the Crusades

• Angelique Chrisafis, French mayors refuse to lift burkini ban despite court ruling, The Guardian, August 28, 2016

A woman wearing a burkini on the beach in Marseille, France. Photo: Reuters.

The Importance of Not Being Sarkovazzi

“When I invented the burkini in early 2004, it was to give women freedom, not to take it away” says Aheda Zanetti. “I would love to be in France to say this: you have misunderstood. And there more problems in the world to worry about, why create more? You’ve taken a product that symbolised happiness and joyfulness and fitness, and turned it into a product of hatred”, she added. Photo: Aheda Zanetti.

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

• Angelique Chrisafis, France’s highest court suspends burkini ban in test case, The Guardian, August 26, 2016

Protesters against the burkini ban, outside the French embassy in London, United Kingdom. Photo: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

The London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, with the Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, who called for an end to burkini “hysteria”. Photo: Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Dolce & Gabbana has produced a range of hijabs and abayas targeting women in the UAE. Photo: AFP/Getty Images.

Right to Clothing

London, United Kingdom: Demonstrators stage a beach party outside the French embassy in Knightsbridge to protest against the French government’s decision to ban women from wearing burkinis. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA.