ARC @ TransCultural Exchange’s 2025 International Conference
cambridge, MA
Friday, March 7, 2025
3:15 PM– 5:00 PM
The Foundry | Steam Set
Join ARC and participate in TransCultural Exchange’s 2025 International Conference on Opportunities in the Arts: Avenues for Daring! From March 7-9 at The Foundry in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the conference will connect artists from around the globe on pressing issues in the creative sector.
On March 7, ARC will host the panel “Art on the Frontlines: Navigating Risks and Fostering Resilience,” featuring unique and daring artivists from diverse walks of life. The panel will explore central themes such as how artistic freedom is under growing threat from authoritarian regimes, the weaponization of mis/disinformation, and how artists on the frontlines of social justice movements are frequently targeted due to their powerful creative voice. The firsthand experiences of author Achiro P Olwoch, multidisciplinary artist Tania Bruguera, poet Mosab Abu Toha, and composer Qudrat Wasefi will highlight the most prevalent challenges artists face and underscore the critical role of global support networks in safeguarding artists at risk and freedom of expression. The conversation will be moderated by ARC Executive Director, Julie Trébault.
Panelists
Achiro P Olwoch
Achiro P Olwoch is an author, playwright and founder of Acirocan Books, a self-publishing brand dedicated to storytelling that sparks essential conversations. Through her work, Achiro delves into the realities of LGBTQ injustices, political oppression and social issues in Uganda, creating narratives that reflect the struggles of marginalized communities. Drawing on real situations while protecting identities, her stories resonate deeply, fostering dialogue and inspiring change. With a clear, courageous voice, Achiro’s mission is to bring untold stories to the forefront, challenging perceptions and advocating for a more inclusive just society. Achiro currently lives in exile in New York and is the Interim Artistic Director at National Queer Theater.
Tania Bruguera
Tania Bruguera is a Cuban artist whose work has focused on installation and performance. Her work is in the permanent collections of many institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, and Bronx Museum of the Arts, and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana. Bruguera’s work pivots around issues of power and control, and several of her works interrogate and re-present events in Cuban history. As a result of her art actions and activism, Bruguera has been arrested and jailed several times. She is currently a senior lecturer in media and performance at Harvard University.
Mosab Abu Toha
Mosab Abu Toha is a Palestinian poet, short-story writer, and essayist from Gaza. His first collection of poetry, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and won the Palestine Book Award, the American Book Award, and the Walcott Poetry Prize. Abu Toha is also the founder of the Edward Said Library in Gaza, which he hopes to rebuild. He recently won an Overseas Press Club Award for his “Letter from Gaza” columns for The New Yorker.
Qudrat Wasefi
Qudrat Wasefi is an Afghan composer and trumpeter. He studied music at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and founded a choir for children from AFCECO orphanages, composing patriotic songs that embodied Afghan Resilience. He released the moving music video “The Children of War,” capturing the resilience and innocence prevailing amidst adversity. His composition “A Candle of Hope in the Darkness” united Italian musicians, and performances with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and a string quartet in Melbourne showcased the fusion of music’s universal language with Afghanistan’s cultural tapestry. Notably, he orchestrated the Afghan song “Ay Shakh-e Gul” for the “American Festival Chorus,” at Utah State University. In early 2023, he founded the “Afghanistan Freeharmonic Orchestra” who had a series of concerts in Boston in October 2023, aiming to reunite Afghan musicians who have lost connection or hope amidst their homeland’s challenges.
Julie Trébault
Julie Trébault is the Founder and Executive Director of Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), a global organization dedicated to safeguarding artistic freedom and supporting artists and cultural workers under threat. Under her leadership, ARC provides critical resources and support to more than 2,000 artists facing persecution from state and non-state actors, empowering them to overcome challenges to their creative expression. Prior to founding ARC, she served as director of public programs at the Museum of the City of New York and the Center for Architecture.
