„The simple fact that I am alive and making music proves that freedom is possible,“ says Jamal Ali
Jamal Ali is an Azerbaijani musician, satirist, and journalist whose work blends protest with performance. He fronts Gimme the Juice, an Afrobeat band mixing global grooves with political edge, and co-founded Insane, a spiky comic magazine taking aim at authoritarianism. Exiled for a satirical song about the president, he has since helped build independent media for Azerbaijan and its diaspora. Through music, comics, and storytelling, he gives voice to the silenced: pushing back, speaking out, and sparking dialogue across borders.
For Havel Channel, Ali talks with Ian Willoughby about the power of music and artistic expression, the impact of persecution on his personal life, and his band, Gimme the Juice.
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Serie: Artists in Oppression / 2025
13th annual International Conference in Honour of the Laureate of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize
“The only lost cause is one we give up on before we enter the struggle.”
Václav Havel (Summer Meditations, 1991)
Date: Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Venue: Technology Center of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, Mikulandská 5, Prague 1
Under the auspices of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Jan Lipavský
Freedom of artistic creation is one of the fundamental human rights, at least according to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which lists it alongside other human rights. Artistic freedom is a specific type of freedom of expression, and it is no coincidence that artists, along with journalists and commentators, tend to head lists of persecuted individuals. Through their work, artists stir up society and f
„Prison made me even stronger.“ # Interview with Aleksandra Skochilenko, russian artist and activist
