Chapters

Amplify

ARC elevates the voices of artists, advocates and allies to mobilize a resounding call for global artistic freedom.

Events

Baltimore - USA

ARC @ 2025 National Museum Publishing Seminar

29 June - 1 July 2025

ARC will participate in the panel "Publishing Without Fear or Favor: Maintaining Trust with Authors, Artists, and Audiences" to reflect on how museums can remain spaces for healthy debate and learning.

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Online

ARC @ New York Music Month

11 June 2025

ARC is pleased to partner with the NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment to host the webinar "Lyrics Liberate: Music, Freedom, and Global Lessons to Confront National Challenges” on 11 June, 2025 as part of New York Music Month.

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Bolton Landing - USA

ARC @ 2025 Second Circuit Judicial Conference

2-4 June 2025

ARC Executive Director Julie Trébault will participate, underscoring attacks on artistic freedom and the potential of the judiciary to protect and advance artistic freedom through legal mechanisms.

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Seoul - South Korea

ARC @ 2025 IFACCA World Summit on Arts and Culture

27-30 May 2025

ARC will participate in the 2025 IFACCA Summit in Seoul (27–30 May), sharing expert insights on defending artistic freedom globally as part of the panel, "Navigating global shifts, mapping local impacts."

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New York - United States

ARC @ 2025 PEN America World Voices Festival

1-3 May 2025

ARC is pleased to co-present three events during the 2025 PEN America World Voices Festival, uplifting artistic freedom through engagements from 1-3 May 2025.

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Art on the Front Lines

Celebrating creativity and impact:
explore ARC’s stories, artist interviews, artwork reflections, collaborations, and exhibition highlights.

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.

India

Leena Manimekalai

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Sudan

Osman Obaid

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Russia

Zhenya Berkovich

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Nicaragua

Ludwing Gómez

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China

Rahima Mahmut

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Palestine

Shareef Sarhan

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Videos

Podcasts

Instagram

Follow ARC on Instagram for upcoming events, news and stories from artists around the the world.

This week marks 4 years since poet and #FreedomToWrite Award honoree Galal El-Behairy should have been released from prison. Despite finishing an unjust 3-year sentence for his writing in 2021, he remains unlawfully detained in Egypt to this day.

Alongside ARC and 9 other human rights organizations, PEN America sent a joint letter urging the Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. Motaz Zahran to raise our concerns about El-Behairy’s detention to the relevant authorities in Cairo.

We demand El-Behairy’s immediate release and humane treatment in custody, including access to medical care, legal counsel, and books. His ongoing detention violates Egyptian and international law:

Read the joint letter with @penamerica @pen_canada @peninternational @officialfreedomhouse, المنبر المصري لحقوق اﻹنسان. @menarightsgroup @humenaorg @tahririnstitute, and Democracy for the Arab World Now - DAWN. #FreeGalal

https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/joint-letter-to-the-egyptian-ambassador-to-the-u-s-urging-action-on-the-ongoing-detention-of-galal-el-behairy/

This week marks 4 years since poet and #FreedomToWrite Award honoree Galal El-Behairy should have been released from prison. Despite finishing an unjust 3-year sentence for his writing in 2021, he remains unlawfully detained in Egypt to this day.

Alongside ARC and 9 other human rights organizations, PEN America sent a joint letter urging the Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. Motaz Zahran to raise our concerns about El-Behairy’s detention to the relevant authorities in Cairo.

We demand El-Behairy’s immediate release and humane treatment in custody, including access to medical care, legal counsel, and books. His ongoing detention violates Egyptian and international law:

Read the joint letter with @penamerica @pen_canada @peninternational @officialfreedomhouse, المنبر المصري لحقوق اﻹنسان. @menarightsgroup @humenaorg @tahririnstitute, and Democracy for the Arab World Now - DAWN. #FreeGalal

https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/joint-letter-to-the-egyptian-ambassador-to-the-u-s-urging-action-on-the-ongoing-detention-of-galal-el-behairy/
...

“It feels like the world has forgotten about us,” said artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who recently served four years of his sentence in a maximum-security Cuban prison.

Read Cuban-American artist, writer, and ARC "Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists" summit participant Coco Fusco's moving profile on Cuban artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. The artist has been unjustly imprisoned since he was arrested when anti-government protests swept the country.

https://hyperallergic.com/1028230/coco-fusco-dialogues-with-political-prisoner-luis-manuel-otero-alcantara/

#SOSCuba @peninternational @luismanuel.oteroalcantara @cocof_usco

Image credit: Carlos Martiel, “Untitled” (2025); Courtesy of the artist

“It feels like the world has forgotten about us,” said artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who recently served four years of his sentence in a maximum-security Cuban prison.

Read Cuban-American artist, writer, and ARC "Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists" summit participant Coco Fusco`s moving profile on Cuban artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. The artist has been unjustly imprisoned since he was arrested when anti-government protests swept the country.

https://hyperallergic.com/1028230/coco-fusco-dialogues-with-political-prisoner-luis-manuel-otero-alcantara/

#SOSCuba @peninternational @luismanuel.oteroalcantara @cocof_usco

Image credit: Carlos Martiel, “Untitled” (2025); Courtesy of the artist
...

“The United States withdrawal from UNESCO undermines one of the world’s leading institutions dedicated to defending artistic freedom, safeguarding cultural heritage, and promoting inclusive, democratic values.”

ARC today expressed its grave concerns over the U.S. administration’s announcement that it will fully withdraw from the agency. Read our full statement: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/us-withdraws-unesco-furthering-isolationist-policies/ 

@peninternational @penamerica @otm.network

“The United States withdrawal from UNESCO undermines one of the world’s leading institutions dedicated to defending artistic freedom, safeguarding cultural heritage, and promoting inclusive, democratic values.”

ARC today expressed its grave concerns over the U.S. administration’s announcement that it will fully withdraw from the agency. Read our full statement: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/us-withdraws-unesco-furthering-isolationist-policies/

@peninternational @penamerica @otm.network
...

"On 22 July 2024, a Cairo activist, cartoonist, and translator named Ashraf Omar was taken from his home by plainclothes officers. Forty-eight hours elapsed before there was any official acknowledgment of his arrest or confirmation of his wellbeing or location."

Today, Ashraf remains imprisoned. Read @cartooningforpeace, @cartoonistsrights, and @almanassa_ar’s full statement, co-signed by ARC:
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/marking-one-year-since-ashraf-omars-arrest/ 

@peninternational @committeetoprotectjournalists 
@channeldraw 
@rsfinternational 
@freemuse.98 
@indexcensorship 

Image credit: Gianluca Costantini. Courtesy of the artist.

"On 22 July 2024, a Cairo activist, cartoonist, and translator named Ashraf Omar was taken from his home by plainclothes officers. Forty-eight hours elapsed before there was any official acknowledgment of his arrest or confirmation of his wellbeing or location."

Today, Ashraf remains imprisoned. Read @cartooningforpeace, @cartoonistsrights, and @almanassa_ar’s full statement, co-signed by ARC:
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/marking-one-year-since-ashraf-omars-arrest/

@peninternational @committeetoprotectjournalists
@channeldraw
@rsfinternational
@freemuse.98
@indexcensorship

Image credit: Gianluca Costantini. Courtesy of the artist.
...

ARC’s Executive Director Julie Trébault recently met with Palestinian poet Doha Kahlout @doha_kahlout, now living in France after she received support through the PAUSE program.

This initiative of the French state supports scientists and artists in exile by facilitating their placement at higher education and cultural institutions across France, while also advocating for academic and artistic freedom.

Doha is being sponsored by École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris-Clergy @ensapc and Columbia University in Paris @columbiainparis

We are so happy to have met Doha, and are immensely grateful that she can continue to create in safety. 

@peninternational @bardcollege @maanforgaza

ARC’s Executive Director Julie Trébault recently met with Palestinian poet Doha Kahlout @doha_kahlout, now living in France after she received support through the PAUSE program.

This initiative of the French state supports scientists and artists in exile by facilitating their placement at higher education and cultural institutions across France, while also advocating for academic and artistic freedom.

Doha is being sponsored by École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris-Clergy @ensapc and Columbia University in Paris @columbiainparis

We are so happy to have met Doha, and are immensely grateful that she can continue to create in safety.

@peninternational @bardcollege @maanforgaza
...

ARC is honored to receive The Wynn Kramarsky Freedom of Artistic Expression Award from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts @warholfoundation—a meaningful affirmation of our global mission to defend artistic freedom and support artists and cultural workers under threat.

As authoritarianism, protracted conflict, and repression continue to endanger creative voices, this recognition helps us continue expanding our reach and deepening our impact. Thank you for standing with artists at risk and ARC!

Read our full press release: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/arc-news/arc-honored-as-andy-warhol-foundation-2025-grantee-and-award-recipient/

ARC is honored to receive The Wynn Kramarsky Freedom of Artistic Expression Award from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts @warholfoundation—a meaningful affirmation of our global mission to defend artistic freedom and support artists and cultural workers under threat.

As authoritarianism, protracted conflict, and repression continue to endanger creative voices, this recognition helps us continue expanding our reach and deepening our impact. Thank you for standing with artists at risk and ARC!

Read our full press release: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/arc-news/arc-honored-as-andy-warhol-foundation-2025-grantee-and-award-recipient/
...

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