Artists at Risk Funding Initiative

 This Mimeta proposed initiative aims to mobilize resources for safeguarding artists at risk by facilitating a process for funder collaboration and exchange, leading to the establishment of a joint fund dedicated to supporting the artist protection field.

Why Now?

Mimeta is a Norwegian organization working on cultural rights, which in short means safeguarding artistic expressions and people’s free access to arts production. We do this by supporting intermediary organizations, those who work on behalf of the practitioners, in media and in the arts, globally.

Artists mostly fall short when the fight for freedom of expression is proclaimed in international forums. The focus is on the media and journalists, political dissidents, and human rights defenders. A little over a year ago, Ine Eriksen Søreide, Foreign Minister of Norway at the time, launched the ministry's Strategy for Freedom of Expression in Foreign and Development Policy. For the first time, artists were included as part of the work for freedom of expression in Norway's foreign policy.  This breakthrough for artistic expression, was the result of a long process, that Mimeta had been active in, to influence Norway's foreign policy, so it positions artistic expression under freedom of expression.

This new strategy adopted by the Norwegian authorities highlights the importance of artists in the work for freedom of expression, and ensures they receive the same level of protection received by journalist or political dissidents at risk. This strategy is a reinforcement of the rights-based cultural policy that has been pursued by Norwegian foreign authorities since 2013. It provides Mimeta with a momentum and basis to advocate for more resource allocation within Norway for the inclusion of artists in freedom of expression work internationally.

Artists around the world are subjected to risks that stifle their voice and threaten their lives. Recent research commissioned by (IRIS) and the Ford Foundation, shows that the dangers filmmakers and other storytellers are exposed to are very similar to those faced by human rights and environmental defenders. They are targeted for uncovering wrong-doing and speaking truth to power, yet safety and security for creatives are often not included in strategies and discussions regarding human rights defenders’ needs.  Annual reports by watchdog organizations show an increasing number of artists and their families killed, hurt, imprisoned, harassed, and threatened because of their work. This alarming reality not only deprives artists of the safety and freedom essential for their continued creativity, but also deprives us all from seeing our world of today through their stories.  

What more does recent research tell us about the risks facing these artists? What can we do about them? Who is already in action trying to protect these artists? Do they have enough resources to stand up to this threat?  Do they coordinate with each other?

Mimeta, and others working in the protection field have identified many challenges facing the artist protection work, the biggest of these seems to be the scarcity of resources. There are very few functioning bodies resourced to provide the crucial assistance needed, such as: artist rights education, alert mechanisms, legal aid, cooperation with the established human rights sector, learning from the journalism sector, safe-havens and re-location, family liaison, urgent grants-making systems, advocacy, and public campaigning.  Where artists protection bodies do exist, they are under resourced to shocking levels, including within some of the most renowned international organizations working on the issue.  Regional protection organizations with knowledge and proximity to the contexts of risk that the artists come from, are also scarce.  Both International and regional organizations, are often unable to meet the huge influx of requests that are in the rise in our troubled world of today, all the way from Ukraine to Afghanistan and Iran.  International ones are at risk for seeming selective in their protection of artists, when they find themselves more successful in mobilizing funds for artists at risk due to conflicts in the global north, vs. those in the global south.

All this calls urgently for action to ensure stronger structures for coordination, cooperation, advocacy, and resource mobilization.  It requires work on long term policy, to recognize artistic expression as part of the international fight for freedom of expression, as well as on immediate grassroot level, to mobilize resources for swiftly saving the artists at risk.

 

Initiative Goals?

This Mimeta proposed initiative aims to mobilize resources for safeguarding artists at risk by facilitating a process for funder collaboration and exchange, leading to the establishment of a joint fund dedicated to supporting the artist protection field.  The ambition is to build a solid Artist Rights Protection system with strong regional footholds, in the localities where the violations happen, and a powerful international presence, that works on enhancing existing competences, expanding new ways of organizing and positioning artistic expression under the international fight for freedom of expressions.

More specifically the initiative will:

  • Fund key organizations at the international, regional, and national levels to engage in a strategy to give visibility and raise awareness of safety and protection issues through events (high profile, as well as side events) at established gatherings such as film, journalism, arts, or human rights festivals and conferences. Funders signing up to this initiative, take active part in that strategy.

  • Empower artists to have control over and invest in their own protection

  • Invest in resources for artists in need of urgent assistance.

  • Support existing hub organizations and solidarity and networks involved in protection and safeguarding of artist at risk.

  • Support “bridges” between communities of artists, filmmakers, and human rights defenders at the local, national, regional, and global level.

  • Fund regional organizations to develop needed programs for safeguarding artists.

  • Use our convening power, status, and experience of funding in the arts, journalism, and human rights to: Convene other funders / Bring together key organizations from our human rights, social justice, arts and free expression networks (including organizations that specialize in protection) to build bridges and foster connections.

 

Modality:

Mimeta is inviting funders, regional and international art protection organizations to partner on this initiative.  Mimeta is offering to take on the role of working secretariat for the parties joining this initiative, and manager of the allocated funds. The Initiative will have a steering committee consisting of four representatives from the grant making parties and four from organizations involved safeguarding artists. The committee meets annually for strategic talks and has at least three online management meetings to decide on allocations and milestone activities. The kick-off meeting should agree size/scale of joint fund and fundraising targets for it thereafter. The secretariat designs a process for annual assessment of the flow of the initiative, as well as longer term assessment of impact on the field (bi or tri-annual), all reported back to the SC.

Why Mimeta?

  • Mimeta has been working on the issue of protecting artists at risk since 2008, both at policy and grassroot level, both Internationally (Africa, the Middle East) and in Europe (Norway)

  • We have strong regional relationships within the sector and have experience in addressing risks associated with this area of work working closely with our partners on the ground (e.g. Culture Resource , Artwatch Africa)

  • We have already started the conversation on this initiative with key players in the artist protection sector when preparing for the Landscapes of Protection panel at the Lillehammer World Expression Forum in 2022 (ICORN, ICFR, PEN America, IRIS, Culture Resource, Informal network of donors of arts and culture In the Arab region).

  • We can leverage Norwegian funding given the current momentum In Norway after the above-described breakthrough in policy.