Events
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

Sudan
Osman Obaid

Russia
Zhenya Berkovich

Nicaragua
Ludwing Gómez

China
Rahima Mahmut

Palestine
Shareef Sarhan

Videos
Art of Exile Series Screening and Performance Event
Artistic Freedom in Africa: Developing a Regional Strategy for Censorship Board Reform
Podcasts



🇨🇺 #Cuba | ARC and PEN International (@peninternational) strongly denounce the continued persecution of the writers and academics Alina Bárbara López Hernández and Jenny Victoria Pantoja Torres.
Alina and Jenny have faced violent acts, detentions, and intimidation from authorities due to their critical expression and activism. The charges culminating from these threats are indicative of the myriad forms of repression faced across the independent artistic, academic, and literary communities in Cuba.
Together, ARC and PEN International call on the Cuban government to end the judicial harassment against the writers, drop any charges, and ensure full respect for the right to peaceful assembly and the free exchange of ideas.
Read our full statement: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/pen-international-arc-denounce-continued-persecution-of-alina-hernandez-jenny-pantoja/
#freeexpression #artisticfreedom

🇨🇺 #Cuba | ARC and PEN International (@peninternational) strongly denounce the continued persecution of the writers and academics Alina Bárbara López Hernández and Jenny Victoria Pantoja Torres.
Alina and Jenny have faced violent acts, detentions, and intimidation from authorities due to their critical expression and activism. The charges culminating from these threats are indicative of the myriad forms of repression faced across the independent artistic, academic, and literary communities in Cuba.
Together, ARC and PEN International call on the Cuban government to end the judicial harassment against the writers, drop any charges, and ensure full respect for the right to peaceful assembly and the free exchange of ideas.
Read our full statement: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/pen-international-arc-denounce-continued-persecution-of-alina-hernandez-jenny-pantoja/
#freeexpression #artisticfreedom
Last week, ARC participated in the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) World Summit on Arts & Culture as part of the panel "Navigating Global Shifts, Mapping Local Impacts." During the event, ARC`s Asia Regional Representative Manojna Yeluri (@manojnayeluri) provided vital insights on the polycrisis affecting the arts and culture sector and the steps needed to mitigate risk and empower daring art and artists.
Despite the myriad challenges we face, the gathering in Seoul reinforced our collective power to stem repressive tides and uplift creative expression.
We sincerely thank IFACCA, the ARTS COUNCIL KOREA (@arkokorea), and all those involved in coordinating this powerful summit.
To watch & relive the summit: https://www.youtube.com/@ifacca4/streams
#ArtsSummitKorea

Last week, ARC participated in the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) World Summit on Arts & Culture as part of the panel "Navigating Global Shifts, Mapping Local Impacts." During the event, ARC`s Asia Regional Representative Manojna Yeluri (@manojnayeluri) provided vital insights on the polycrisis affecting the arts and culture sector and the steps needed to mitigate risk and empower daring art and artists.
Despite the myriad challenges we face, the gathering in Seoul reinforced our collective power to stem repressive tides and uplift creative expression.
We sincerely thank IFACCA, the ARTS COUNCIL KOREA (@arkokorea), and all those involved in coordinating this powerful summit.
To watch & relive the summit: https://www.youtube.com/@ifacca4/streams
#ArtsSummitKorea
ARC urges the Whitney Museum to immediately reinstate the Independent Study Program and ensure the full implementation of its 2025–2026 iteration!
“By choosing suppression over engagement, the Whitney joins a broader and dangerous pattern of cultural repression that seeks to silence voices challenging dominant power structures. We stand in unwavering solidarity with the artists, scholars, and alumni of the ISP who have bravely resisted this act of censorship,” said Artists at Risk Connection’s Executive Director Julie Trebault following the Whitney Museum`s decision to suspend its Independent Study Program (ISP)— cornerstone of critical artistic discourse for over half a century—following the cancellation of a performance mourning Palestinian lives.
Read our initial release: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/arc-condemns-whitney-censorship-palestinian-mourning-performance/
For more on the situation: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/arts/design/whitney-study-program-suspended-palestinian-gaza.html
Photo credit: Ajay Suresh
@penamerica @ncacensorship @aclu_nationwide

ARC urges the Whitney Museum to immediately reinstate the Independent Study Program and ensure the full implementation of its 2025–2026 iteration!
“By choosing suppression over engagement, the Whitney joins a broader and dangerous pattern of cultural repression that seeks to silence voices challenging dominant power structures. We stand in unwavering solidarity with the artists, scholars, and alumni of the ISP who have bravely resisted this act of censorship,” said Artists at Risk Connection’s Executive Director Julie Trebault following the Whitney Museum`s decision to suspend its Independent Study Program (ISP)— cornerstone of critical artistic discourse for over half a century—following the cancellation of a performance mourning Palestinian lives.
Read our initial release: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/arc-condemns-whitney-censorship-palestinian-mourning-performance/
For more on the situation: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/arts/design/whitney-study-program-suspended-palestinian-gaza.html
Photo credit: Ajay Suresh
@penamerica @ncacensorship @aclu_nationwide
Join ARC in celebrating this year’s New York Music Month (NYMM)!
On 11 June at 12:30 PM ET, ARC, co-sponsored by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment - MOME (@madein_ny), will host the webinar “Music, Freedom, and Global Lessons to Confront National Challenges.”
Moderated by ARC Executive Director Julie Trébault, the conversation will feature four daring artists who use their music to push for social change, informing a candid discussion on domestic affronts to creative expression:
🎸 Siddique Ahmed (@sidahmd) – Afghan bassist and member of Kabul Dreams (@kabuldreams)
🎧 DJ Switch (@djswitch_) – Nigerian performing artist, DJ, and activist
🎭 David D’Omni (@daviddomni) – Cuban multidisciplinary artist and musician
🎙️ Nadine El Roubi (@nadineelroubi) – Sudanese rapper
NYMM is an annual, citywide celebration of music launched by MOME in 2017. Every June, NYMM unites artists, organizations, and cultural leaders across the five boroughs through free programming that underscores NYC’s role as a global music capital.
Don’t miss out and register now! ➡️ bit.ly/arc-nymusicmonth
#NYMUSICMONTH @Shira_gans

Join ARC in celebrating this year’s New York Music Month (NYMM)!
On 11 June at 12:30 PM ET, ARC, co-sponsored by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment - MOME (@madein_ny), will host the webinar “Music, Freedom, and Global Lessons to Confront National Challenges.”
Moderated by ARC Executive Director Julie Trébault, the conversation will feature four daring artists who use their music to push for social change, informing a candid discussion on domestic affronts to creative expression:
🎸 Siddique Ahmed (@sidahmd) – Afghan bassist and member of Kabul Dreams (@kabuldreams)
🎧 DJ Switch (@djswitch_) – Nigerian performing artist, DJ, and activist
🎭 David D’Omni (@daviddomni) – Cuban multidisciplinary artist and musician
🎙️ Nadine El Roubi (@nadineelroubi) – Sudanese rapper
NYMM is an annual, citywide celebration of music launched by MOME in 2017. Every June, NYMM unites artists, organizations, and cultural leaders across the five boroughs through free programming that underscores NYC’s role as a global music capital.
Don’t miss out and register now! ➡️ bit.ly/arc-nymusicmonth
#NYMUSICMONTH @Shira_gans
There are only a few more days left to see Evelyn Sosa’s (@evelyn._.sosa) exhibition, No Place is Far Away, at the Mahara+Co (@mahara_and_co) gallery in Miami, on view through June 6.
Informed by the question, “What object did you take with you when you emigrated?” Evelyn’s evocative photos provide a nuanced reflection on the Cuban migratory experience. Through the photo series, Evelyn dares us to reflect upon how identity transforms when territory disappears and what remains when everything else is gone.
To learn more: https://mahara-co.com/no-place-is-far-away/
The exhibition was supported by ARC and PEN International’s (@peninternational) Cuban Migrant Artists Resilience Fellowship.
Photo credit: Zachary Balber (@zacharybalber)

There are only a few more days left to see Evelyn Sosa’s (@evelyn._.sosa) exhibition, No Place is Far Away, at the Mahara+Co (@mahara_and_co) gallery in Miami, on view through June 6.
Informed by the question, “What object did you take with you when you emigrated?” Evelyn’s evocative photos provide a nuanced reflection on the Cuban migratory experience. Through the photo series, Evelyn dares us to reflect upon how identity transforms when territory disappears and what remains when everything else is gone.
To learn more: https://mahara-co.com/no-place-is-far-away/
The exhibition was supported by ARC and PEN International’s (@peninternational) Cuban Migrant Artists Resilience Fellowship.
Photo credit: Zachary Balber (@zacharybalber)
"People from our immediate circle began to be called in for questioning, searches, and surveillance. The anti-war art community was living in that kind of atmosphere—an atmosphere of repression." – Anastasiya Sukhareva-Morozova (@sukhareva.morozova), Russian ceramist, sculptor, photographer, political dissident, and The Art of Resistance participant.
Every other Friday, ARC is featuring an artist from our new digital exhibition, The Art of Resistance: Contemporary Art from Russia and Belarus.
This moving testament to the power of creative defiance in the face of authoritarianism 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 Anastasiya’s powerful work, and read her story at:
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/anastasiya-sukhareva-morozova/
#ArtistsAgainstTheWar #artivism #TheArtofResistence #UNESCO

"People from our immediate circle began to be called in for questioning, searches, and surveillance. The anti-war art community was living in that kind of atmosphere—an atmosphere of repression." – Anastasiya Sukhareva-Morozova (@sukhareva.morozova), Russian ceramist, sculptor, photographer, political dissident, and The Art of Resistance participant.
Every other Friday, ARC is featuring an artist from our new digital exhibition, The Art of Resistance: Contemporary Art from Russia and Belarus.
This moving testament to the power of creative defiance in the face of authoritarianism 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 Anastasiya’s powerful work, and read her story at:
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/anastasiya-sukhareva-morozova/
#ArtistsAgainstTheWar #artivism #TheArtofResistence #UNESCO
ARC condemns the Whitney Museum’s last-minute cancellation of No Aesthetic Outside My Freedom, a powerful performance mourning Palestinian lives and exploring colonial violence.
We stand with the artists and curators of the Whitney ISP, including Fadl Fakhouri (@fadlfakhouri), Noel Maghathe, Fargo Tbakhi (@youknowfargo), Natalie Diaz (@ndinn), Christina Sharpe, Brandon Shimoda (@brandon_shimoda), and Sara Nadal‑Melsió, whose voices were silenced. This act reflects a growing wave of institutional censorship across the U.S.—a trend we documented in a joint report with the Association of Art Museum Directors (@museumdirectors) and PEN America (@penamerica)
Museums must be places of dialogue, not silence. We urge the Whitney to live up to its mission of championing experimental, risk-taking art.
🔗To read the full statement: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/arc-condemns-whitney-censorship-palestinian-mourning-performance/
#ArtisticFreedom #WhitneyMuseum #Censorship #ISP

ARC condemns the Whitney Museum’s last-minute cancellation of No Aesthetic Outside My Freedom, a powerful performance mourning Palestinian lives and exploring colonial violence.
We stand with the artists and curators of the Whitney ISP, including Fadl Fakhouri (@fadlfakhouri), Noel Maghathe, Fargo Tbakhi (@youknowfargo), Natalie Diaz (@ndinn), Christina Sharpe, Brandon Shimoda (@brandon_shimoda), and Sara Nadal‑Melsió, whose voices were silenced. This act reflects a growing wave of institutional censorship across the U.S.—a trend we documented in a joint report with the Association of Art Museum Directors (@museumdirectors) and PEN America (@penamerica)
Museums must be places of dialogue, not silence. We urge the Whitney to live up to its mission of championing experimental, risk-taking art.
🔗To read the full statement: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/arc-condemns-whitney-censorship-palestinian-mourning-performance/
#ArtisticFreedom #WhitneyMuseum #Censorship #ISP
Celebrating this year`s #Cannes #PalmeDor award to Jafar Panahi @jafar.panahi with Bididul Productions @bididul_productions for his searing political drama "It Was Just an Accident" —a film in which five Iranians confront the man they believe tortured them—we reflect on the unyielding courage of an artist who has risked his freedom, his safety, and his voice to defend the right to create without fear.
When Panahi was unjustly imprisoned in Iran in July 2022, ARC stood in solidarity with many of our partners—advocating for his release and amplifying his voice when it was being silenced. His films continue to challenge censorship and authoritarianism with quiet, unflinching power.
🖋 Read more: 🔗https://artistsatriskconnection.org/artist-voice/jafar-panahi/
Join us in recognizing this award that has become a reminder of why artistic freedom must be defended, everywhere.
#JafarPanahi #FreedomToCreate #ArtisticFreedom #Iran #Censorship #HumanRights #CinemaForJustice #Cannes2025 #ICFFR

Celebrating this year`s #Cannes #PalmeDor award to Jafar Panahi @jafar.panahi with Bididul Productions @bididul_productions for his searing political drama "It Was Just an Accident" —a film in which five Iranians confront the man they believe tortured them—we reflect on the unyielding courage of an artist who has risked his freedom, his safety, and his voice to defend the right to create without fear.
When Panahi was unjustly imprisoned in Iran in July 2022, ARC stood in solidarity with many of our partners—advocating for his release and amplifying his voice when it was being silenced. His films continue to challenge censorship and authoritarianism with quiet, unflinching power.
🖋 Read more: 🔗https://artistsatriskconnection.org/artist-voice/jafar-panahi/
Join us in recognizing this award that has become a reminder of why artistic freedom must be defended, everywhere.
#JafarPanahi #FreedomToCreate #ArtisticFreedom #Iran #Censorship #HumanRights #CinemaForJustice #Cannes2025 #ICFFR