What we do
Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) defends and advances the right to artistic freedom, providing practical resources and support to artists and cultural workers, so they can live and work safely, free from fear.
Protect
ARC provides direct assistance to at-risk artists and connects them with an international network of organizations and resources.
Advocate
ARC monitors, documents, and advocates for artists targeted for their creative expression, social justice efforts, or human rights work. ARC defends and promotes artistic freedom around the world.
Amplify
ARC raises awareness about the challenges facing artists and cultural workers, and leads global calls for safeguarding the right to artistic freedom through storytelling, campaigns, publications, podcasts, and events.
Featured news from ARC
Artist
stories
Stories of at-risk artists from all over the world who are committed to protecting their right to freedom of expression and using their art to fight for justice.
Chad
Taigué Ahmed
Hong Kong
Franki C.
Nigeria
DJ Switch
Mexico
PH Joel
China
Rahima Mahmut
Turkey
Aslı Erdoğan
Exhibitions
The Art of Resistance:
Contemporary Art from
Russia & Belarus
Curated by Vera Shengalia
Where we work
We work wherever artists face danger or repression, collaborating with local and international partners to ensure that no creative voice is silenced, regardless of geography or circumstances.
Africa
Latin America & The Caribbean
Asia & The Pacific
Middle East & North Africa
Europe
North America
INSTAGRAM FEED
📸Take a look at our photos from last week`s plenary session “You Are Not Alone: Safety and Solidarity” as part of the #NPN2025Conference “Stormshaping: Adaptation, Resistance, Imagination” held on Wednesday 8 October in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Featured speakers included:
✨ Giselle Byrd – Executive Director, The Theatre Offensive
✨ Anjee Helstrup Alvarez – Executive Director of MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana)
Learn more: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/event/arc-national-performance-network-2025-conference/
@thegisellekristina @anjeearte
📸Take a look at our photos from last week`s plenary session “You Are Not Alone: Safety and Solidarity” as part of the #NPN2025Conference “Stormshaping: Adaptation, Resistance, Imagination” held on Wednesday 8 October in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Featured speakers included:
✨ Giselle Byrd – Executive Director, The Theatre Offensive
✨ Anjee Helstrup Alvarez – Executive Director of MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana)
Learn more: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/event/arc-national-performance-network-2025-conference/
@thegisellekristina @anjeearte
“I can’t engage in the art world unless I’m actively having a conversation about institutional critique.” — Demian DinéYazhi’ @heterogeneoushomosexual
On Indigenous Peoples` Day, ARC looks back at a powerful voice from one of our past summits.
At ARC’s and @artatatimelikethis’s “Dangerous Art / Endangered Artists” summit in June 2024, Indigenous-American artist-activist Demian DinéYazhi’ shared how they grapple with the hypocrisy of artistic institutions in “Is Censorship Discriminatory?” a panel with Lorena Wolffer @lorenawolffer, Shahzia Sikander @shahzia.sikander, and Jasmine Wahi @browngirlcurator.
To watch the full panel, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0kZ_z2yUic
Learn more about our “Dangerous Art / Endangered Artists” summit: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/dangerous-art-endangered-artists-summit/
#indigenouspeoplesday
“I can’t engage in the art world unless I’m actively having a conversation about institutional critique.” — Demian DinéYazhi’ @heterogeneoushomosexual
On Indigenous Peoples` Day, ARC looks back at a powerful voice from one of our past summits.
At ARC’s and @artatatimelikethis’s “Dangerous Art / Endangered Artists” summit in June 2024, Indigenous-American artist-activist Demian DinéYazhi’ shared how they grapple with the hypocrisy of artistic institutions in “Is Censorship Discriminatory?” a panel with Lorena Wolffer @lorenawolffer, Shahzia Sikander @shahzia.sikander, and Jasmine Wahi @browngirlcurator.
To watch the full panel, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0kZ_z2yUic
Learn more about our “Dangerous Art / Endangered Artists” summit: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/dangerous-art-endangered-artists-summit/
#indigenouspeoplesday
“Sometimes we draw cartoons and shudder the moment we press the publish button.” - Osman Obaid
Once a week, ARC shares an artwork from one of the artists we’ve featured in the past. This week, we highlight Osman.
Osman Obaid is a political cartoonist from Al Junayd, Sudan. From a humble beginning at a university exhibition, Osman’s cartoons have evolved into symbols of hope. His art courageously confronts oppression, corruption, and the ongoing fight for justice.
Through the challenges of censorship and restrictions on freedom of expression within Sudanese newspapers, Osman has grown not just as an artist, but as an activist as well.
Read Osman`s story: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/story/osman-obaid
#sudan #politicalcartoon #politicalcartoonist #artispower
@osman_obaid
“Sometimes we draw cartoons and shudder the moment we press the publish button.” - Osman Obaid
Once a week, ARC shares an artwork from one of the artists we’ve featured in the past. This week, we highlight Osman.
Osman Obaid is a political cartoonist from Al Junayd, Sudan. From a humble beginning at a university exhibition, Osman’s cartoons have evolved into symbols of hope. His art courageously confronts oppression, corruption, and the ongoing fight for justice.
Through the challenges of censorship and restrictions on freedom of expression within Sudanese newspapers, Osman has grown not just as an artist, but as an activist as well.
Read Osman`s story: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/story/osman-obaid
#sudan #politicalcartoon #politicalcartoonist #artispower
@osman_obaid
✨ BREAKING: Photographer and writer Shahidul Alam has been released.
We welcome this news with relief, but others from the humanitarian flotilla remain unjustly detained.
We call for their immediate and unconditional release.
No artist, activist, or humanitarian should ever be targeted for defending human rights and dignity.
#freedomflotilla #gaza
#humanrights #artisticfreedom
✨ BREAKING: Photographer and writer Shahidul Alam has been released.
We welcome this news with relief, but others from the humanitarian flotilla remain unjustly detained.
We call for their immediate and unconditional release.
No artist, activist, or humanitarian should ever be targeted for defending human rights and dignity.
#freedomflotilla #gaza
#humanrights #artisticfreedom
🏝️ Coco Fusco: I Learned to Swim on Dry Land — do not miss it!
ARC is proud to highlight MACBA’s upcoming exhibition featuring longtime ally, Cuban-American artist and writer Coco Fusco.
For more than three decades, Fusco’s performances, films, photographs, and texts have pushed audiences to confront the politics of representation, exile, and post-revolutionary Cuban history. From her iconic work Two Undiscovered Amerindians Discover the West to her recent investigations into Cuba and U.S. politics, she continues to challenge power structures and elevate complex stories of belonging and resistance.
At ARC, we are deeply committed to supporting Cuban artists in exile through our Cuban Migrant Artists Resilience Fellowship (CMARF) — offering funding, training, and global visibility to artists forced from their homeland but determined to keep creating.
As we celebrate this landmark exhibition, we’re also seeking a Program Consultant to lead CMARF and strengthen our work with Cuban artists.
📍 Coco Fusco: I Learned to Swim on Dry Land
MACBA – Museu d`Art Contemporani de Barcelona
🗓️ 23 May 2025 – 11 January 2026
👉 Learn more about the exhibition: https://www.macba.cat/en/exhibitions/coco-fusco-i-learned-to-swim-on-dry-land/
👉 Apply to the CMARF Program Consultant role: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/.../consultant-cuban.../
#CocoFusco #MACBA #CubanArtists #ArtisticFreedom #Cuba
@macba_barcelona @cocof_usco
Image credit: Paquita y Chata se arrebatan" (fragment), 1996. Image courtesy of the artist.
🏝️ Coco Fusco: I Learned to Swim on Dry Land — do not miss it!
ARC is proud to highlight MACBA’s upcoming exhibition featuring longtime ally, Cuban-American artist and writer Coco Fusco.
For more than three decades, Fusco’s performances, films, photographs, and texts have pushed audiences to confront the politics of representation, exile, and post-revolutionary Cuban history. From her iconic work Two Undiscovered Amerindians Discover the West to her recent investigations into Cuba and U.S. politics, she continues to challenge power structures and elevate complex stories of belonging and resistance.
At ARC, we are deeply committed to supporting Cuban artists in exile through our Cuban Migrant Artists Resilience Fellowship (CMARF) — offering funding, training, and global visibility to artists forced from their homeland but determined to keep creating.
As we celebrate this landmark exhibition, we’re also seeking a Program Consultant to lead CMARF and strengthen our work with Cuban artists.
📍 Coco Fusco: I Learned to Swim on Dry Land
MACBA – Museu d`Art Contemporani de Barcelona
🗓️ 23 May 2025 – 11 January 2026
👉 Learn more about the exhibition: https://www.macba.cat/en/exhibitions/coco-fusco-i-learned-to-swim-on-dry-land/
👉 Apply to the CMARF Program Consultant role: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/.../consultant-cuban.../
#CocoFusco #MACBA #CubanArtists #ArtisticFreedom #Cuba
@macba_barcelona @cocof_usco
Image credit: Paquita y Chata se arrebatan" (fragment), 1996. Image courtesy of the artist.
🚨 Photojournalist Shahidul Alam @shahidul001 among 145 activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla Coalition & Thousand Madleens to Gaza forcibly taken from international waters
We are alarmed that photojournalist and writer Shahidul Alam and others were among 145 activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla Coalition & Thousand Madleens to Gaza #freedomflotilla #thousandmadleenstogaza who were forcibly taken from international waters by the Israeli military, roughly 120 nautical miles off Gaza, while delivering humanitarian aid and challenging Israel’s naval blockade.
Shahidul has long stood for truth and artistic freedom, and his voice is vital in these times.
This act, carried out far outside Israeli territorial waters, has been widely condemned as a violation of international law and an example of transnational repression.
We call for their immediate release and safe return.
📄 More info: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israeli-military-intercepts-another-flotilla-heading-to-gaza-and-detains-scores-of-activists/ar-AA1O5Hgs
#artisticfreedom #pressfreedom #freeshahidulalam #gaza #humanrightsviolations #internationallaw #transnationalrepression
🚨 Photojournalist Shahidul Alam @shahidul001 among 145 activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla Coalition & Thousand Madleens to Gaza forcibly taken from international waters
We are alarmed that photojournalist and writer Shahidul Alam and others were among 145 activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla Coalition & Thousand Madleens to Gaza #freedomflotilla #thousandmadleenstogaza who were forcibly taken from international waters by the Israeli military, roughly 120 nautical miles off Gaza, while delivering humanitarian aid and challenging Israel’s naval blockade.
Shahidul has long stood for truth and artistic freedom, and his voice is vital in these times.
This act, carried out far outside Israeli territorial waters, has been widely condemned as a violation of international law and an example of transnational repression.
We call for their immediate release and safe return.
📄 More info: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israeli-military-intercepts-another-flotilla-heading-to-gaza-and-detains-scores-of-activists/ar-AA1O5Hgs
#artisticfreedom #pressfreedom #freeshahidulalam #gaza #humanrightsviolations #internationallaw #transnationalrepression
Last week, ARC hosted “Cultural Rights Now: Voices at Risk, Access in Action” at #MONDIACULT2025 in Barcelona!
In partnership with @eba_europebeyondaccess, Diputació de Barcelona, and the @britishcouncil, we explored censorship, exclusion, and artistic freedom, and discussed inclusive, rights-based cultural policies.
Speakers:
✨ Diana Anselmo – Performer, Visual Artist, Activist, Al.Di.Qua @nata.aria
✨ Tere Badia – Steering Group, Barcelona Declaration on Cultural Rights
✨ Alia Alzougbi – Artistic Director & CEO, Shubbak @aliaalzougbi
✨ Collen Kajokoto – Poet & Activist @collenkajokoto
Learn more: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/event/cultural-rights-now-mondiacult-2025/
#CulturalRightsNow #ArtisticFreedom #UNESCO @unesco
@collenkajokoto @aliaalzougbi
Last week, ARC hosted “Cultural Rights Now: Voices at Risk, Access in Action” at #MONDIACULT2025 in Barcelona!
In partnership with @eba_europebeyondaccess, Diputació de Barcelona, and the @britishcouncil, we explored censorship, exclusion, and artistic freedom, and discussed inclusive, rights-based cultural policies.
Speakers:
✨ Diana Anselmo – Performer, Visual Artist, Activist, Al.Di.Qua @nata.aria
✨ Tere Badia – Steering Group, Barcelona Declaration on Cultural Rights
✨ Alia Alzougbi – Artistic Director & CEO, Shubbak @aliaalzougbi
✨ Collen Kajokoto – Poet & Activist @collenkajokoto
Learn more: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/event/cultural-rights-now-mondiacult-2025/
#CulturalRightsNow #ArtisticFreedom #UNESCO @unesco
@collenkajokoto @aliaalzougbi
"I reconstructed the theory of art for myself." - @samiahalaby
Once a week, ARC shares an artwork from one of the artists we’ve featured in the past. This week, we highlight Samia.
A world-renowned Palestinian-American visual artist, activist, educator, scholar, and "Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists" participant, Samia Halaby was honored last month with the Munch Award for Artistic Freedom. The honor is presented annually by Munch—an Oslo museum devoted to the work of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch—in recognition of artists’ sustained courage and integrity in the face of political and social pressures.
Learn about Samia`s award: https://www.artforum.com/news/samia-halaby-receives-munch-award-artistic-freedom-1234735397/
Learn about Samia`s participation in our summit: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/dangerous-art-endangered-artists-summit/
Image credit: "Rainbow Spirals," 1972, Image courtesy of the artist.
@samiahalaby
"I reconstructed the theory of art for myself." - @samiahalaby
Once a week, ARC shares an artwork from one of the artists we’ve featured in the past. This week, we highlight Samia.
A world-renowned Palestinian-American visual artist, activist, educator, scholar, and "Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists" participant, Samia Halaby was honored last month with the Munch Award for Artistic Freedom. The honor is presented annually by Munch—an Oslo museum devoted to the work of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch—in recognition of artists’ sustained courage and integrity in the face of political and social pressures.
Learn about Samia`s award: https://www.artforum.com/news/samia-halaby-receives-munch-award-artistic-freedom-1234735397/
Learn about Samia`s participation in our summit: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/dangerous-art-endangered-artists-summit/
Image credit: "Rainbow Spirals," 1972, Image courtesy of the artist.
@samiahalaby
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