ARC is presenting a Community Lab “Mapping the climate of fear: building a community-based model to document creative censorship” and a panel “Art and activism in the context of internet control and states of emergency” at RightsCon2022, the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age.

Thursday, June 9 9:30 – 10:30 am EDT Online

2020 and 2021 were marked not only by the global spread of COVID-19 but also by the rise of powerful populist movements demanding democracy and freedom in the face of escalating repression and social control around the world, often spearheaded by artists themselves. In response to these movements, governments have resorted to authoritarian tactics designed to silence and oppress critical voices – including using states of emergency to shut down and disrupt internet connections at a time when organizers and activists have increasingly relied on the internet and social media. For instance, Cuban artist-activists in the San Isidro Movement have utilized collectively produced art and communication materials, in-person gatherings, and the platforms of Cubans outside of the country to counter the frequent government interference with the internet. In Hong Kong, protestors utilized both creative digital methods to organize collectively and anonymously while also utilizing physical, easy-to-make visual works such as post-it note Lennon Walls to encourage public participation and solidarity, even without the internet. Three artist-activists from Asia, Africa, and Latin America who have been at the forefront of social movements in their own countries and have experienced the far-reaching impacts of internet disruptions on their art and activism will share their insights. Participants will learn and discuss government use of states of emergency to target social movements and reflect on both the successful and unsuccessful ways artists have creatively resisted and navigated disruptions.

DJ SWITCH, Nigerian DJ, songwriter, and musician DJ Switch graduated from the University of Port Harcourt with a B.Sc in Geology and worked at Halliburton as a log analyst for over a year before chasing her dreams in arts. She was the winner of the Star Quest musical reality show, releasing a hit single with her band The Pulse, titled “Pray Sote,” which featured American superstar Busta Rhymes on the remix. She is also the winner of the X-Factor West Africa, releasing a hit song titled “Safe Landing” under the Sony Music imprint and the winner of the Red-bull 3style championship, which is a global DJ competition. She founded her company SwitchNation Entertainment Limited in 2014. She was awarded the City People Music Award and Top Naija Music Award for best DJ in 2016 and named Culture Icon 2021. She is also an activist working to establish a nonprofit called RenovateNigeria, which will focus on providing a platform for socially and politically conscious creatives only. RACHITA TANEJA, Indian political Cartoonist Rachita Taneja is a political cartoonist and the creator of Sanitary Panels. Sanitary Panels is a feminist webcomic that comments on society, culture, and politics. Through her work, Rachita aims to dispel myths about taboos such as menstruation, mental health, and queer rights, as well as reflect the mood of the country on politics and current affairs. JOSE LUIS APARICIO, Cuban Filmmaker Studied film directing at the Universidad de las Artes de Cuba. His short fiction and documentary films have been screened at festivals in Cuba, the United States, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Argentina, Panama, Guatemala, and Chile. His film El Secadero (2019) won Best Fiction at Bannabáfest in Panama and Honorable Mention at Cinema Ciudad de México, as well as Best Production and Audience Award at Muestra Joven Cuba. His documentary Sueños al pairo (2020, co-directed with Fernando Fraguela), censored by ICAIC, had its world premiere at BAFICI. In 2020, he created the initiative Cine Cubano en Cuarentena (Cuban Cinema in Quarantine). He is a member of the editorial staff of Rialta magazine. JULIE TREBAULT, Director of the Artists at Risk Connection, PEN America (moderator) Julie Trébault is the director of the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), a project of PEN America that aims to safeguard the right to artistic freedom by connecting threatened artists to support, building a global network of resources for artists at risk, and forging ties between arts and human rights organizations. She has nearly two decades of experience in international arts programming and network-building, including at the Museum of the City of New York, the Center for Architecture, the National Museum of Ethnology in The Netherlands, and the Musée du quai Branly in Paris.

Wednesday, June 8 7:30 – 8:30 am EDT Online

In the past few years, there has been a global surge in attacks on free speech and expression, resulting in harassment, arrests, censorship, and even death threats for artists around the world as they exercise their right to artistic freedom. While monitoring bodies may publish documented cases of artist persecution, official reports often miss unreported cases and instances of self-censorship. By inviting creative stakeholders to participate in this community lab, we hope to take steps to create a community-based system mapping the realities of a climate of fear – a term that describes a situation where authoritarian forces spark fear among people through policies and actions from censorship to arrest and even death, with the intention of pushing artists and activists towards certain extreme socio-political campaigns and points of view and/or to discourage activism – in regions around the world. The use of fear as a tool to incite panic, cultivate paranoia, and subdue free expression is not new, but continues to adapt to new conditions, such as the digital sphere. In this session, participants are invited to share their experiences of censorship and persecution with each other, while facilitators seek to establish a framework for identifying, documenting, and physically mapping these “unseen” but very real threats to artistic freedom. Facilitators will include those who have previously worked on cases of artist persecution as well as those who have worked on projects documenting violations of creative freedom and social justice movement.

DOUNIA BENSILMANE, Cultural actor based in Casablanca, Morocco Dounia has been working with nonprofits, including international NGOs, for over 12 years, focusing on culture and human rights in Morocco, Africa, and the Arab region. She is one of the co-founding members of now dissolved Racines, an organization that promoted democracy and human rights through research, advocacy, and education projects. The organization’s work centered around using culture and cultural programs to advance and educate different stakeholders about human rights. Dounia has extensive experience in cultural management, fundraising, and project development. She also works as a researcher, lecturer, trainer and mentor. Dounia Benslimane holds a medical degree from Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco and an associates degree in Cultural Project Management from Marcel Hicter Association in Brussels, Belgium.  She is a Fulbright International Humphrey Alumna of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs (University of Minnesota, USA) with a focus on human rights. KATRINA SANTIAGO, Cultural critic and opinion writer, Philippines Katrina Stuart Santiago is an independent cultural critic and opinion writer from Manila, with a decade of print and online work. She holds a Master’s Degree in Philippine Studies from the University of the Philippines, and her critical work on theater, film, visual arts, and popular culture was published in Rebellions: Notes on Independence and Romances: Variations on Love by the Ateneo de Naga University Press in 2017. Her role as a critic has fueled her activism, which cuts across issues of cultural labor, systemic dysfunctions, and institutional crises. She is a contributing writer for CNN Philippines and is a teacher of multimedia arts at the College of St. Benilde-School of Design and the Arts. She maintains the review website gaslight online, the opinion page disquiet.ph, and has been writing at ww.katrinasantiago.com since 2008. She is the founder of PAGASA-People for Accountable Governance and Sustainable Action, which seeks to build a new civil society for the urgencies of the present. MANOJNA YELURI, Asia Regional Representative for the Artists at Risk Connection Manojna Yeluri is an entertainment and intellectual property rights lawyer. She founded Artistik License, a legal and business consultancy for artists and creative professionals in 2013, and has been working closely with the independent arts and music industries since, with the opportunity to present at global trade events such as WOMEX and IOMMA. She holds a Masters Degree in Entertainment, media and intellectual property rights law from the UCLA School of Law, and graduated from the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, India with a BA.LLB (Hons) degree. She is currently based out of Hyderabad, India. JULIE TREBAULT, Director of the Artists at Risk Connection Julie Trébault is the director of the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), a project of PEN America that aims to safeguard the right to artistic freedom by connecting threatened artists to support, building a global network of resources for artists at risk, and forging ties between arts and human rights organizations. She has nearly two decades of experience in international arts programming and network-building, including at the Museum of the City of New York, the Center for Architecture, the National Museum of Ethnology in The Netherlands, and the Musée du quai Branly in Paris.

RightsCon began in 2011 with the goal of creating a civil society-led space where all stakeholders – from tech companies to government representatives to human rights defenders – could come together to build a rights-respecting digital future. Since then, RightsCon has rotated between five continents and grown, both in size and in scope, to meet the evolving needs of a movement.

These events are supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.