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
United States
Dread Scott
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
“There are songs that I couldn`t sing at first because it hurt a lot to sing them. And after many years of singing them, I realized, this wound no longer hurts... I am no longer the same person who began to sing full of rage, full of hate. That possibility was given to me by the arts.” — Rebeca Lane (@rebecalane6)
Guatemalan musician and activist Rebeca Lane has spent the last decade using hip-hop to challenge patriarchy and empower women across Latin America. Drawing from her family’s experiences during Guatemala’s civil war, Lane transforms pain into healing through art — inspiring others to do the same.
🎥 Watch Lane’s powerful music video and feminist resistance song “Ni Una Menos,” an anthem against gender-based violence that has resonated across Latin America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbQ_
🎶 Read her story: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/artist-voice/rebeca-lane/
#RebecaLane #Guatemala #NiUnaMenos #ArtistSpotlight
Lane performs onstage in Berlin in 2018. Photo credit: Nika Kramer.
“There are songs that I couldn`t sing at first because it hurt a lot to sing them. And after many years of singing them, I realized, this wound no longer hurts... I am no longer the same person who began to sing full of rage, full of hate. That possibility was given to me by the arts.” — Rebeca Lane (@rebecalane6)
Guatemalan musician and activist Rebeca Lane has spent the last decade using hip-hop to challenge patriarchy and empower women across Latin America. Drawing from her family’s experiences during Guatemala’s civil war, Lane transforms pain into healing through art — inspiring others to do the same.
🎥 Watch Lane’s powerful music video and feminist resistance song “Ni Una Menos,” an anthem against gender-based violence that has resonated across Latin America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbQ_
🎶 Read her story: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/artist-voice/rebeca-lane/
#RebecaLane #Guatemala #NiUnaMenos #ArtistSpotlight
Lane performs onstage in Berlin in 2018. Photo credit: Nika Kramer.
“Our opposition thrives on chaos.” — Nikole Hannah-Jones
Across the U.S., artists, writers, and educators are confronting censorship and political pressure that`s reaching new heights.
At ARC’s “Dangerous Art / Endangered Artists” summit in May 2024, Nikole Hannah-Jones joined Aruna D’Souza to discuss how censorship operates across art, race, gender, and sexuality—and how each of us can resist this suppression with clarity and courage.
The insights shared during the summit are now more urgent than ever.
🎥 Watch their full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkoMPOoKxCk
@nikolehannahjones @invisible.flaneuse
“Our opposition thrives on chaos.” — Nikole Hannah-Jones
Across the U.S., artists, writers, and educators are confronting censorship and political pressure that`s reaching new heights.
At ARC’s “Dangerous Art / Endangered Artists” summit in May 2024, Nikole Hannah-Jones joined Aruna D’Souza to discuss how censorship operates across art, race, gender, and sexuality—and how each of us can resist this suppression with clarity and courage.
The insights shared during the summit are now more urgent than ever.
🎥 Watch their full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkoMPOoKxCk
@nikolehannahjones @invisible.flaneuse
🇰🇪 “Art is more than just a form of expression—it’s a tool to challenge societal norms, raise awareness, and inspire action.” - @javan_thepoet
From Kenya, to Madagascar, Nepal, and beyond, a new generation of young people is rising up—demanding justice, accountability, and change. Artists are at the heart of these movements, using creativity to amplify truth and inspire solidarity.
Today, ARC spotlights Javan the Poet, a socially-engaged musician from Nairobi, Kenya, whose art embodies this spirit. Through his lyrics, Javan speaks truth to power—denouncing human rights violations, police brutality, and inequality.
“Art can give a voice to the voiceless,” Javan shared with ARC. “The diversity of mediums allows us to reach a broader audience and impact people across different walks of life.”
His work reminds us that art doesn’t just reflect society—it can transform it.
🔗 Learn more about Javan’s story: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/artist-voice/javan-the-poet/
#Kenya #ArtistsForJustice #GenZProtests
🇰🇪 “Art is more than just a form of expression—it’s a tool to challenge societal norms, raise awareness, and inspire action.” - @javan_thepoet
From Kenya, to Madagascar, Nepal, and beyond, a new generation of young people is rising up—demanding justice, accountability, and change. Artists are at the heart of these movements, using creativity to amplify truth and inspire solidarity.
Today, ARC spotlights Javan the Poet, a socially-engaged musician from Nairobi, Kenya, whose art embodies this spirit. Through his lyrics, Javan speaks truth to power—denouncing human rights violations, police brutality, and inequality.
“Art can give a voice to the voiceless,” Javan shared with ARC. “The diversity of mediums allows us to reach a broader audience and impact people across different walks of life.”
His work reminds us that art doesn’t just reflect society—it can transform it.
🔗 Learn more about Javan’s story: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/artist-voice/javan-the-poet/
#Kenya #ArtistsForJustice #GenZProtests
ARC is excited to take part in the #CECArtsLink2025Assembly: Defending Each Other! — happening THIS WEEK, November 6–7, at La MaMa Ellen Stewart Theatre (NYC) and online.
Join ARC Executive Director Julie Trébault and Achiro P. Olwoch, Ugandan writer, filmmaker, and activist, for a powerful conversation on defending artists and advancing creative freedom.
We’re also honored that longtime ARC collaborator Mai Khoi, a Vietnamese musician and dissident artist, will take part in the Assembly—sharing her experiences and insights on artistic resistance and solidarity.
ARC will also host an Artist Safety Consultation, based on our adaptation of the Safety Guide for Artists to the U.S. context.
As threats to creative expression continue to rise globally, the Assembly—and the artists at its heart—remind us that defending one another is both an act of solidarity and survival.
🔗 Learn more: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/event/arc-cec-artslink/
@achiro.p.olwoch @mai.khoi #DefendingEachOther #CECArtsLink #ArtisticFreedom
ARC is excited to take part in the #CECArtsLink2025Assembly: Defending Each Other! — happening THIS WEEK, November 6–7, at La MaMa Ellen Stewart Theatre (NYC) and online.
Join ARC Executive Director Julie Trébault and Achiro P. Olwoch, Ugandan writer, filmmaker, and activist, for a powerful conversation on defending artists and advancing creative freedom.
We’re also honored that longtime ARC collaborator Mai Khoi, a Vietnamese musician and dissident artist, will take part in the Assembly—sharing her experiences and insights on artistic resistance and solidarity.
ARC will also host an Artist Safety Consultation, based on our adaptation of the Safety Guide for Artists to the U.S. context.
As threats to creative expression continue to rise globally, the Assembly—and the artists at its heart—remind us that defending one another is both an act of solidarity and survival.
🔗 Learn more: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/event/arc-cec-artslink/
@achiro.p.olwoch @mai.khoi #DefendingEachOther #CECArtsLink #ArtisticFreedom
“To be alive for me is equivalent to being an artist. Art saved me. It is the only way to save us from everyday life and bring us back to the truth.” — Samaneh Atef
For Iranian artist and activist Samaneh Atef, art is both survival and resistance.
Growing up surrounded by social restrictions, she was told art was “not for women.” Yet she turned that denial into power—using her art to tell the stories of Iranian women fighting for their rights.
Now living in exile in France, Samaneh continues to create work that amplifies the courage and resilience of women in Iran.
👉 Read her story: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/artist-voice/samaneh-atef/
Credit: From the Women in Prison collection, 2022. Pen on paper. Image courtesy of the artist.
@samaneh_atef #Iran #ArtistSpotlight #WomenLifeFreedom
“To be alive for me is equivalent to being an artist. Art saved me. It is the only way to save us from everyday life and bring us back to the truth.” — Samaneh Atef
For Iranian artist and activist Samaneh Atef, art is both survival and resistance.
Growing up surrounded by social restrictions, she was told art was “not for women.” Yet she turned that denial into power—using her art to tell the stories of Iranian women fighting for their rights.
Now living in exile in France, Samaneh continues to create work that amplifies the courage and resilience of women in Iran.
👉 Read her story: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/artist-voice/samaneh-atef/
Credit: From the Women in Prison collection, 2022. Pen on paper. Image courtesy of the artist.
@samaneh_atef #Iran #ArtistSpotlight #WomenLifeFreedom
🛑🇺🇸“The decision to strip Wole Soyinka of his visa marks another troubling escalation in a pattern linking the mobility of international creative voices to their ideological compliance.”
ARC strongly condemns the U.S. government’s revocation of Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka’s visa–a deeply troubling act that undermines freedom of expression and international cultural exchange.
Read our full statement: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/revocation-of-nigerian-writer-wole-soyinkas-u-s-visa-is-a-violation-of-freedom-of-expression-and-cultural-exchange/
Image credit: Beowulf Sheehan, 2022
🛑🇺🇸“The decision to strip Wole Soyinka of his visa marks another troubling escalation in a pattern linking the mobility of international creative voices to their ideological compliance.”
ARC strongly condemns the U.S. government’s revocation of Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka’s visa–a deeply troubling act that undermines freedom of expression and international cultural exchange.
Read our full statement: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/revocation-of-nigerian-writer-wole-soyinkas-u-s-visa-is-a-violation-of-freedom-of-expression-and-cultural-exchange/
Image credit: Beowulf Sheehan, 2022
“I just keep running forward—I can’t afford therapy, so I just forbid myself from dwelling on the idea of returning home or feeling nostalgic.” — Mikhail Gulin, Belarusian conceptual artist, curator, actionist, and The Art of Resistance participant.
The Art of Resistance, an ARC digital exhibition, is a moving testament to the power of creative defiance in the face of authoritarianism. It brings together 13 visual artists from Russia and Belarus who have mobilized to oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and to advocate for peace.
See Mikhail’s striking work and read his testimony: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/mikhail-gulin-exhibition/
@michailgulin #ArtistsAgainstTheWar #artivism #TheArtofResistance
“I just keep running forward—I can’t afford therapy, so I just forbid myself from dwelling on the idea of returning home or feeling nostalgic.” — Mikhail Gulin, Belarusian conceptual artist, curator, actionist, and The Art of Resistance participant.
The Art of Resistance, an ARC digital exhibition, is a moving testament to the power of creative defiance in the face of authoritarianism. It brings together 13 visual artists from Russia and Belarus who have mobilized to oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and to advocate for peace.
See Mikhail’s striking work and read his testimony: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/mikhail-gulin-exhibition/
@michailgulin #ArtistsAgainstTheWar #artivism #TheArtofResistance
Earlier this month, ARC’s Executive Director Julie Trébault spoke with The New York Times, where she discussed the growing threats of ideologically based funding cuts and censorship facing U.S. museums.
“This is authoritarian playbook 101: controlling the narrative, reshaping history, silencing marginalized communities.”
At ARC, we stand with museums and cultural institutions defending the freedom to tell complex, inclusive, and challenging histories — free from political interference.
🔗 Read the full article in The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/arts/design/museums-trump-funding-cuts.html
@nytimes #museumsmatter #artisticfreedom #academicfreedom
Earlier this month, ARC’s Executive Director Julie Trébault spoke with The New York Times, where she discussed the growing threats of ideologically based funding cuts and censorship facing U.S. museums.
“This is authoritarian playbook 101: controlling the narrative, reshaping history, silencing marginalized communities.”
At ARC, we stand with museums and cultural institutions defending the freedom to tell complex, inclusive, and challenging histories — free from political interference.
🔗 Read the full article in The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/arts/design/museums-trump-funding-cuts.html
@nytimes #museumsmatter #artisticfreedom #academicfreedom
Want to see more?
Follow us on socials
Want to support artists at risk?
We rely on your donations.
Subscribe to ARC’s newsletter
Subscribe to ARC’s quarterly newsletter and e-blasts for the lastest updates on artistic freedom.