Ahead of The Gabrielle Goliath People's Tribunal, this panel discussion examines the role of the artist as public witness in a moment of growing contestation around freedom of expression, institutional power, and the right to dissent.

Taking Gabrielle Goliath's work and recent experiences as a point of departure, the conversation explores how artists bear witness to trauma, injustice and social realities, and what happens when that witnessing encounters resistance, censorship, or attempts at silencing. The discussion will consider the tribunal itself as an artistic and political form: why appropriate the language of public inquiry, testimony and judgement, and what possibilities does this create for art as a space of collective reflection and democratic engagement?

Situated within broader debates about censorship in contemporary South Africa, the panel asks how artistic freedom is being reshaped by institutional, corporate and social pressures, and what responsibilities artists, cultural institutions and audiences hold in defending spaces for critical expression. Ultimately, the discussion considers what is at stake when artistic practice becomes a site of truth-telling, public accountability and political imagination.

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