At the Salzburg Global Seminar session ‘On the Front Lines: Artists at Risk, Artists who Risk’, in March 2023, fifty artists, activists and representatives from supporting organizations hailing from forty countries created the Salzburg Statement on Supporting Artists on the Front Line.
This mapping encompasses 71 organizations, all actively involved in supporting Artists-at-Risk to varying degrees. Out of these, 20 organizations have participated by providing responses to our survey, specifically designed for this mapping initiative. Additionally, 25 supplementary interviews were conducted among the 71 organizations. The study, therefore, combines survey data, interviews, and desk studies. While acknowledging the challenges of generalizing from this diverse material, we remain hopeful that it contributes to a comprehensive overview of organizations dedicated to supporting Artists-at-Risk.
Utenriksdepartementet støtter Unesco sitt Aschberg-program. Dette har fokus på beskyttelse av kunstnerisk frihet. Rett før sommeren publiserte de Defending Creative Voices, en dyptpløyende gjennomgang av de internasjonale beskyttelsesmekanismene for kunstnere, med tittelunderteksten «Learning from the safety of journalists». Referansen til journalister er nærliggende. Begge grupper er spesielt fremhevet i menneskerettighetssystemet, og begge er avhengige av ytringsfrihet i arbeidet sitt.
Kulturledere i Arendal arbeider for at byen skal etablere seg som del av det internasjonale Friby-nettverket. I Arendal har alle kulturlederne gått sammen i Art27Arendal for å diskutere internasjonalisering av programarbeid og utvikling av et bedre internasjonalt nettverk. Arendal skal fortsatt være et fellesskap som ivaretar kunstneriske rettigheter. Dette gjelder både folks deltakelse i kunstproduksjon og kunstnernes ytringsfrihet. Slik vil de sikre at kultursektoren forblir en god pådriver og arena for demokratisering i lokalsamfunnet.
Culture Resource and Action for Hope are launching an emergency initiative to support Sudanese artists and protect cultural resources in Sudan. This initiative includes different components, such as providing support to artists and writers who have been directly affected by the war, identifying and documenting the cultural and artistic resources at risk in Sudan and exploring ways to protect them, providing workplaces and meeting spaces for Sudanese artists who had to leave Sudan recently, and training a group of cultural actors from Sudan and South Sudan on protecting cultural rights in times of war and crisis.
Opening remarks by Cato Litangen, Director of Mimeta, at World Freedom of Expression Forum (Wexfo), Workshop 23rd May
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Solveig Korum Korum har tatt doktorgrad i bruk av musikk som verktøy i norsk utenriks- og bistandspolitikk ved Universitetet i Agder. I fagbladet for norsk bistandssektor, Panorama Nyheter, viser Solveig Korum til Mimeta som eksempel på norske organisasjoner som arbeider sammen med lokale partnere for å få frem en fungerende kultursektor i land der myndigheten ikke tar dette ansvaret.
Carving out a space for free expression has always been a high-cost fight for artists under autocratic rule. Today, that space is contested even in some established western democracies. This session will present you with real life models and experiences from Africa, the Middle East and Norway of those working effortlessly to salvage a space for free expression for artists. How can we ensure more international engagement in protecting the rights of artists at risk?
Velkommen til frokostseminar om kraften i historiefortelling og hvordan den kan brukes til å påvirke både individuelle ferdigheter og endringer av sosiale situasjoner. Arendal Voksenopplæring og Media Service AS, i samarbeid med Oslo Met og NLA-Høgskolen, bruker film i språkopplæring for innvandrere i Arendal. Prosjektet er finansiert av Imdi.
Basma El Husseiny er fra Egypt. Hun er en internasjonalt anerkjent kulturleder, og driver den arabiske organisasjonen Action for Hope som har filmskoler for unge syriske flyktninger i Libanon.
It is our pleasure to invite you to the roundtable “Artists at risk: Learning from the experience of journalists”, which will be hosted by UNESCO on Thursday 4 May 2023 from 13h00 to 13h30, in the framework of IFACCA’s 9th World Summit on Arts & Culture — Space A1 (Level 4), Waterfront Congress Centre, Stockholm, Sweden. The event will feature the launch of UNESCO’s new publication “Defending Creative Voices: Artists in emergencies – Learning from the safety of journalists” and the announcement of over US$ 1 million investment in artistic freedom through the UNESCO-Aschberg programme.
The roundtable, dedicated to the safety of artists, will be opened and moderated by Mr. Ernesto Ottone R., UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture. It will include the participation of the following panellists:
Mr Shahidul Alam, Artist, photojournalist, educator and social activist
Ms Basma El Husseiny, Founder, Action for Hope
Ms Julie Trébault, Director, Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) - PEN America
C-Stunners of Cyrus Kabiru. Photo: Sylvia Gichia
Mimeta is organizing this panel in partnership with the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), as a side event to the World Expression Forum (WEXFO), taking place in Norway, Lillehammer 22-23 May - 9:30-12:30. WEXFO was launched last year with a mission to be a catalyst for freedom of expression defenders from around the world to unite them in a strong and active global community. Mimeta is a stakeholder in the WEXFO conference.
Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Ms. Alexandra Xanthak
The Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Ms. Alexandra Xanthaki, will continue to work on cultural rights in development for her next report to the General Assembly, examining more closely the global governance of development and its impact on cultural rights, and she asks for your input!
It is of urgency to invest in these structures as their foundations are crackling. The number of people that are involved concretely in the protective work globally is countable on few hands. The protective structures on ground are alarmingly scarce and not fully integrated in the international system of protection, according to head of Mimeta, Cato Litangen.
Authorities, philanthropy, cultural institutes, and key organizations and artists from vulnerable regions, took part in the first meeting of the Artist at Risk Funding Initiative. The aim is to strengthen the protection of artists at risk.
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.
Mimeta would like to invite you as a funding partner to a meeting on Thursday 23rd March 11:30 – 16:00 (lunch included, venue tbc) to discuss this Artist at Risk funding Initiative, and confirm partnerships with those interested. The meeting will take place in cooperation with and around ICORN annual network meeting, 22-24 March in Brussels.
Press release from Voices of Culture
Voices Of Culture – The structured dialogue between the European Commission and the cultural sector has published a Brainstorming report on “International Cultural Relations” (ICR) and made it available in 5 languages, namely, English, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi and Spanish.
The Brainstorming report represents a collection of topics, recommendations, tangible steps and project ideas drawn from the Voices of Culture Structured Dialogue on ICR in February 2022. Four considerations – equity, space, access and time – have been used to address complex topics in ICR. They enhance, within this framework, a more inclusive approach and bring new voices into the co-design of ICR activities and the exploring of funding mechanisms. While avoiding reinventing the wheel, the discussions gave space to share knowledge, time to read and learn from others, and an understanding of the gaps in information, knowledge and perspectives.
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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 rights activists. A little over a year ago, then Norwegian Foreign Minister Søreide launched the ministry's Strategy for freedom of expression in foreign and development policy. The strategy marked a breakthrough for artistic expression. They were included as part of the work for freedom of expression in Norway's foreign policy.
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Brett Davidson is the Narrative Lead at IRIS (read about the partnership between Mimeta and IRIS here). What makes narrative change so hard? Non-profits and funders can go too far in pointing fingers at their own shortcomings, and the reality is that they are playing on an uneven psychological field, explains Brett Davidson for the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Brett Davidson, a narrative strategist with deep experience in health equity, is particularly interested in the role of storytelling, popular culture, and arts activism in bringing about social change (from IRIS Hopepage)
Incoherence in Open Space - an Encounter with Sarri Elfaitouri about “Tahafut” (AFAC)
In the October issue of their newsletter, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, invite us to read interviews with three AFAC-supported artists that delve into the various specificities and challenges of the Arab region’s habitats, as they frame it. They ask: How do we preserve our lands? How do we ensure continuity and sustainability for our communities? And how do we reclaim public spaces and instill a sense of belonging in conflict-ridden areas? The questions are done on background of Climate change, conflicts and health crises that have exacerbated inequalities and vulnerabilities with respect to the basic right for adequate shelter and safe space.
As a peer organisation we would like to express support to AFAC for their storytelling, and we take the liberty to share. If you are not subscribing to their newsletter, please do!
27 to 30 October 2022 - Centro Cultural del Bosque INBAL - Colegio de San Ildefonso
This year, Landscapes of Hope , launched by Action For Hope العمل للأمل, is organizing its annual international rally of artists and writers for Social Justice live in Mexico City.
