The right to safely create: A spotlight on organizations that work with persecuted artists and the resources they provide

Writers, musicians, visual artists, theatremakers, and others throughout history have found strength and courage through artistic expression to advocate for their communities. Artists are many times torch bearers, exposing corruption and protesting injustice, even at the risk of their personal safety. But when taking these risks, what are the specific legal protections for them and their work?

In policy and human rights advocacy, they are often not given the protections they require. Former UN Special Reporter of cultural rights Karima Bennoune remarks:

“I think there have been failings on both sides. On the human rights side, there’s insufficient recognition of cultural rights generally and of cultural rights defenders. On the art side, it’s been interesting to see that often artists will become involved in defending various human rights causes, but there seems to be less of an automatic impulse to defend at-risk artists.”

Indeed, according to a 2002 public report published by UNESCO, less than 50 countries have established an independent body defending artistic freedoms. As such, when faced with threatening circumstances as a result of their artistry, many politically active artists have no sure resource to protect their freedom of expression.

Several organizations have emerged to protect politically prosecuted artists. Three New York City based organizations in particular are notable for their work with persecuted artists located globally and nationally: Artistic Freedom Initiative, Artists at Risk Connection, and the Institute of International Education Artist Protection Fund. While each of them serve at-risk artists, each organization has their own individual strengths and focuses. Their advocacy is not a replacement for legislative protection, but a reminder to us that, as each artist has their own specific needs, we each have a part to play in the protection of artistic freedom and freedom of speech.

Artistic Freedom Initiative

Working with Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) in 2019 performing in RADICAL RECITATIONS– an arts festival demonstrating the power in storytelling in protecting artistic liberty– Toto Kisaku’s "Requiem for an Electric Chair” depicts the true story of his persecution and later his expulsion from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2015. For Kisaku, art is resistance:

“What is destroying my country is the silence. I wanted to give people on the ground the possibility to change their condition.”

Demanding that the audience contemplate the preciousness of human life, Toto Kisaku’s piece encourages deep engagement with topics such as African immigration, authoritarian governments, genocide, incarceration, and execution.

“It’s to open the minds of people who are still ignoring that those kinds of things exist... that 12 million Congolese people have died in 15 years… that people will be killed tonight, and they will be killed tomorrow. That’s why we have to tell the truth.”

Toto Kisaku’s meaningful advocacy work with Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI)  at Studio Theatre in Washington DC is an example of the platform that this artistic advocacy group shares with artists fighting for freedom of speech and various injustices often linked to the authoritarian governments they are protesting.

In addition to events and various platforms, led by immigration and human rights attorneys, Artistic Freedom Initiative provides free immigration and resettlement services internationally for vulnerable artists. They recognize the importance of “safeguarding the right to artistic freedom” and recognize that “artists are increasingly censored, imprisoned, restricted from moving freely across borders, tortured, or even killed”. This organization provides several different tools and opportunities based on the need of individual artists include legal services, resettlement assistance, events and opportunities to showcase work, and artistic freedom advocacy resources and programming.

As  a part of their legal services, Artistic Freedom Initiative provides pro bono legal aid for those seeking asylum in the United States, entry into the US as refugees, and admission into the US under immigrant and non-immigrant status for those fleeing censorship in their country of origin. They help to secure talent-based, specialty occupation, and performance visas and to petition for asylum as well.

Additionally, AFI’s  holistic resettlement assistance covers personal, logistical, professional, and legal needs after they have relocated. The organization’s network and referrals allow artists to be  connected with opportunities in professional development, mental health and immigrant services, emergency funding, and grant programs. Fellowships through the resettlement services are made possible through connections with several universities, including George Mason University, New York Film Academy, Bennington College, and The New School. Additionally, residency programs have been established with arts organizations nationally including Macdowell, Art Omi, City of Asylum Detroit, and Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts. Finally, from 2021 to 2022, AFI created the Studio Award in partnership with Two Trees Management providing two apartments in the Artistic Freedom Initiative Network with a 15-month studio space. These three offerings allow those in need of resettlement the opportunity to work and/or study at an institution in order to continue their work in a safe and supportive environment.

Artists for Social Change within Artistic Freedom Initiative provides a variety of methods for at-risk artists/activists to display their work. Through this program, AFI looks for ways for artists to enter the US for specific events such as exhibits, performances or screenings. In addition, AFI will then also plan and execute these events in partnership with other organizations, which in the past have included “Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Queens Museum, National Sawdust, Dupont Underground, (Le) Poisson Rouge, Symphony Space, and many others.” Lastly, the organization will then help to amplify the artist’s messages, supporting their campaigns for social change and connecting them with New York networks that can support them in enacting their visions for the world and specific communities.

Artistic Freedom Initiative’s advocacy work also includes efforts to ensure freedom of expression, artistic rights, artistic mobility, safe migration, asylum and refugee rights, cultural rights and heritage preservation, and cultural management. They enact this work through research, campaigns, and public engagement. AFI believes in documenting injustice but also providing the actionable resources for leaders to change policy and people to change current practices that do not align with the safety and well-being of the artists in their local area. Artistic Freedom Initiative believes in accountability, resources, and action towards a better tomorrow where artists are protected and safe in their important artistic and activist work.

Artistic Freedom Initiative provides a well-rounded assortment of resources that cover various needs of artists fleeing persecution. Their focus centers on the well-being of artists in addition to their professional, creative, and advocacy-related goals. RADICAL RECITATIONS is simply a drop in the bucket when considering the range of work and impact they accomplish.

Artists at Risk Connection

Malyshki 18:22 (Babes 18:22) is a sister duo of contemporary artists, Nika and Akinsya, who focus their work primarily on beauty vandalism–drawing out societal imperfections through hyperfeminine contrasted with gory or helter-skelter accentuation of materials. While they are still based in Tomsk, Siberia and have received questioning from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the duo continues their work largely in Russia in addition to exhibits in Turkey and Austria. In an interview with Artists at Risk Connection, Nika claims that they worry more about “monsters under the bed than I am of being searched. A search is a real fear, you know what to expect and what to be afraid of, whereas monsters under the bed are a complete unknown.” To them, the reward of expression and social change outweighs the risk of government harassment. 

Malyshki 18:22’s “Castle for Monsters”(2023) and other pieces such as “Magical Portal” (2021), “Break the Heart into a Piece of Cake” (2022) are displayed as a part of Artists at Risk Connection’s online exhibit The Art of Resistance: Contemporary Art from Russia and Belarus. All the works in this event were created by artists who “have mobilized to oppose the war (in Ukraine) and advocate for peace.”

Similar to the Artistic Freedom Initiative, Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) too creates platforms to showcase the work of persecuted artists, but in their other work focuses more on the preservation of artists’ ability to create without, before, or post resettlement. Founded in 2017 and originated through PEN America, Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), an independent international organization, aims to “defend and  advance the right to artistic freedom, providing practical resources and support for artists and cultural workers at risk worldwide.” ARC works to help at risk artists whose work in their communities has led to censorship, persecution, and violence. Their resources and programming include emergency and resilience support, fellowships, campaigns, and more.

Emergency support for Artists at Risk Connection includes emergency grants ($500–$2000), connections to partner relocation organizations, the facilitation of relocations in emergency cases, and guidance/resources to aid in navigating crises. While there are emergency grants available, monetary resources are limited. Therefore, the organization will more often employ the other methods of aid or refer the artist and any family members to partners who may have the financial resources necessary to ensure the safety of the artist and other loved ones at risk.

Resilience support includes “safety training, capacity-building workshops, and fellowship.” The goal is sustenance of artists’ capacity to continue their work past the turmoil they faced in their home country. To those no longer at risk, ARC prioritizes resources that will combat any systemic barriers to continuing their craft and/or advocacy work. These resources may entail mentorship, Resilience Grants ($3,000 maximum), professional training, advocacy for artistic freedoms, and connection to global resources and networks. The idea is to help formerly at-risk artists to continue their craft if they choose to while they readjust to a new location and new societal circumstances.

Artists at Risk Connection currently provides two fellowships: The Cuban Migrant Artist Residence Fellowship and The Bard College Center for Ethics and Writing Program Fellowship. The Cuban Migrant Artist Residence Fellowship is designed to annually offer 10 Cuban migrant artists in exile a variety of assets to traverse life abroad. These resources include mentorship, financial support, and opportunities to grow a global network. The Bard College Center for Ethics and Writing Program Fellowship is a one year non-residency program aimed towards artists’ whose freedom of speech has been persecuted as a result of their socially active art. Fellows receive opportunities to speak about their work in virtual courses and network and to present their work on Artists at Risk Connection platforms such as their website and journal. Though there is no date posted yet, ARC plans to provide an additional fellowship program soon called the ARC Resiliency and Advocacy Fellowship, geared towards artists from Global Majority countries, specifically traditionally marginalized groups such as women, LGBTQI+ artists, and racial and ethnic minority groups.

Artists at Risk Connection has launched several campaigns over the past 8 years aimed towards uplifting and supporting the voices of persecuted artists. Voces Presas (Incarcerated Voices) (2022 to present) is an online campaign in partnership with PEN International and Civil Rights Defenders (CRD) that sheds light on the imprisonment and harassment of Cuban artists. Another example is #ArtistsXArtists (2019–present), a campaign connecting emerging, established, and at-risk artists to create an artistic piece surrounding issues of global human rights and creative expression. Others include Day of the Imprisoned Writer (2023 and 2024), The Power of Art in Hong Kong’s Protests (2019), Antibodies (2020) and A Banned Books Week 2019 Playlist.

In addition to emergency and resilience support, fellowships, campaigns, Artists at Risk Connection is active in international advocacy, has published a variety of reports, surveys and research, and hosts live and virtual events. Their work spans individual and familial aid to global advocacy in pursuit of creating opportunities for persecuted artists to continue their work and influencing governments and policy makers to protect artists and advocates’ freedom of speech and creation.

Through their advocacy and support of persecuted artists and their work, Artists at Risk Connection fosters opportunities for persecuted artists to collaborate, network, and continue the work in whatever circumstances they presently inhabit.

Institute of International Education: The Artist Protection Fund

Rashwan Abdelbaki, today a New York resident, is originally from Syria and through his visual art challenges perceptions of his home country and sends messages of unity in a world where discrimination, war, and colonization are recurring themes. In many of his paintings, you may notice that the figures have one eye closed and one open. According to Abdelbaki, this symbolizes the fear inside all of us that keeps us in a state of constant surveillance.

“These people, like all people, are also prisoners of their own beliefs, so I paint them with striped garments in empty cells. They cannot see beyond the space of their beliefs.”

From September 2016–September 2017, Rashwan Abdelbaki received a one year fellowship award from the Institute of International Education’s Artist Protection Fund. Institute of International Education® (IIE), founded in 1919, is dedicated to encouraging and providing materials so that individuals and organizations may adopt a lifelong mission of learning and international exchange. Later in 2015, the Institute of International Education Artist Protection Fund was created to provide relief and safe havens to artists with funding from the Mellon and Ford foundation and the support of host organizations globally. Fellowship grants are awarded for one year to artists of any discipline. Whereas organizations such as Arts at Risk Connection and Artistic Freedom initiative span several different programs and grant opportunities, the Institute of International Education focuses specifically on the placement of artists in long term safe havens with their Artistic Protection Fund. Rashwan Abdelbaki’s involvement led to the creation of several of the pieces including the one above in addition to a broader understanding of human beings and the wide variety of lives we lead .

“Traveling and living in New York has helped me become acquainted with new civilizations, cultures, languages, music and so on.”

Academic institutions, arts residency programs, cultural centers, performing arts organizations, and arts communities can qualify to host artists as long as they can match the fellowship support through housing, studio space, materials, support, and support from their network. 100% of the Artistic Protection Fund Fellowship must go to the artist and welcoming them into your community through “community, facilitating contact with fellow artists and thought leaders, providing mentorship, and access to the full range of resources and contacts available.” Through hosting, arts organizations may provide a wealth of resources that support at-risk artists as they navigate new environments, recover from strenuous circumstances, and continue their creative practices.

The Institute of International Education, has a wider goal of providing cross cultural opportunities not just for artists, and as such their programming within the Artist Protection Fund is obviously more limited in the scope of its activities. However, their capacity to find hosts and partner with at-risk artists lends itself to a wealth of impact especially as it continues. 

How can I get involved?

After reading the many different resources available, you may ask yourself ‘Do I really need to get involved in these organizations, when so many other people are working towards the goal of artistic freedom?’ The truth is that there will never be enough collaboration when working towards the protection of artists and their practices. While lawyers and social workers may have a special set of skills that make them extra valuable in these cases, each person has at least one connection or one talent that will make a difference in uplifting the work of artists globally.

Specifically, by working with Artistic Freedom Initiative, Artists at Risk Connection, and the Institute of International Education’s Artist Protection Fund, there are several different methods to involve yourself as an individual or as an organization. Here are 4 for thought:

• If you have professional experience or skills related to the arts, foreign affairs, or legal work, consider contacting the leadership teams to provide your expertise and/or contacts.
• If you are a leader of or affiliated with an organization who may have the capacity to host, consider applying through the Institution of International Education’s Artist Protection Fund to become one of the many organizations involved in relocating and providing the necessary resources for artists to create.
• If you are interested in the several campaigns that Artists at Risk Connection runs,  visit their events, promote their work, and contact your local government in support of protecting artistic freedoms and the organizations that support persecuted artists.
• If you are an individual or an organization, all of these not-for-profit organizations accept donations. Whether it’s $5 or $500, your money contributes to the protection and elevation of artistic voices globally. If you’re interested, you can even follow these links: Artistic Freedom Initiative, Artists at Risk Connection, Institute of International Education’s Artist Protection Fund.

Whether you advocate through your voice, work, or donation dollars, you can be a part of the safety and security of global artists who are fighting for a better tomorrow.

Written by Caili Harris, a graduate student in the M.F.A. in Theatre - Arts Leadership program at Virginia Tech.