Resource for Artists
Safety Guide for Artists available in Russian
Artists and cultural workers take risks, but they should not have to risk their lives.
In January 2021, the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) published A Safety Guide for Artists, a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind guide available in English, French, and Spanish. The manual is held in high regard and to this day helps artists navigate, counter, and overcome threats from those seeking to silence their voices.
Over the past years, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ARC has witnessed a momentous surge in applications for assistance from Russian and Belarusian artists. Thanks to generous support from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, ARC launched a grants program to help address the many urgent requests for support from Russian and Belarusian visual artists at risk. To date, 124 grants have been awarded, providing 280 artists and their dependents with the essentials to survive – from paying for food and heat to buying art supplies or safely relocating to a new country. The intense and sustained repression against artists and cultural professionals expressing anti-war sentiments or who are considered dissidents of the Lukashenko and Putin regimes has resulted in urgent demand for a version of the Safety Guide that is accessible to Russian speakers.
In response to these realities, ARC has created a Russian translation of A Safety Guide for Artists. The guide builds on six years of experience supporting and protecting at-risk artists. It includes interviews with 13 prominent artists with first-hand experience of government persecution, including Russian visual and theater artist Yulia Tsvetkova and Pussy Riot member Masha Alekhina.
The Safety Guide for Artists includes information on identifying, assessing, and documenting risk; how to strengthen digital safety and develop a personal safety plan; and an overview of what support is available to artists at risk, among other key tips and strategies. Moreover, it provides instruction on handling threats not only from governments but also from political organizations, the police and military, extremist groups, fundamentalist communities, and even one’s neighbors or family.
As ARC works tirelessly to promote and contribute to the creation of a worldwide mechanism for safeguarding artists and writers at risk, the Safety Guide will continue to be a vital resource for artivists (artist-activists), committed to educating, enlightening, and inspiring us, regardless of the dangers they face.
The complete Russian language version of the Safety Guide for Artists is available as a PDF here or via the “Read the Guide” button on this page.
The Russian version of the Guide would not have been possible without the continued support of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation and the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts.
Read the full press release here.
Published on January 17, 2024.