What we do
Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) defends and advances the right to artistic freedom, providing practical resources and support to artists and cultural workers, so they can live and work safely, free from fear.
Protect
ARC provides direct assistance to at-risk artists and connects them with an international network of organizations and resources.
Advocate
ARC monitors, documents, and advocates for artists targeted for their creative expression, social justice efforts, or human rights work. ARC defends and promotes artistic freedom around the world.
Amplify
ARC raises awareness about the challenges facing artists and cultural workers, and leads global calls for safeguarding the right to artistic freedom through storytelling, campaigns, publications, podcasts, and events.
Where we work
We work wherever artists face danger or repression, collaborating with local and international partners to ensure that no creative voice is silenced, regardless of geography or circumstances.
Africa
Latin America & The Caribbean
Asia & The Pacific
Middle East & North Africa
Europe
North America
Featured news from ARC
Artist
stories
Stories of at-risk artists from all over the world who are committed to protecting their right to freedom of expression and using their art to fight for justice.
Mexico
PH Joel
Nigeria
DJ Switch
Cuba
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara
China
Rahima Mahmut
Turkey
Aslı Erdoğan
Russia
Yulia Tsvetkova
Exhibitions
The Art of Resistance:
Contemporary Art from
Russia & Belarus
Curated by Vera Shengalia
INSTAGRAM FEED
This week marks 4 years since poet and #FreedomToWrite Award honoree Galal El-Behairy should have been released from prison. Despite finishing an unjust 3-year sentence for his writing in 2021, he remains unlawfully detained in Egypt to this day.
Alongside ARC and 9 other human rights organizations, PEN America sent a joint letter urging the Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. Motaz Zahran to raise our concerns about El-Behairy’s detention to the relevant authorities in Cairo.
We demand El-Behairy’s immediate release and humane treatment in custody, including access to medical care, legal counsel, and books. His ongoing detention violates Egyptian and international law:
Read the joint letter with @penamerica @pen_canada @peninternational @officialfreedomhouse, المنبر المصري لحقوق اﻹنسان. @menarightsgroup @humenaorg @tahririnstitute, and Democracy for the Arab World Now - DAWN. #FreeGalal
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/joint-letter-to-the-egyptian-ambassador-to-the-u-s-urging-action-on-the-ongoing-detention-of-galal-el-behairy/
This week marks 4 years since poet and #FreedomToWrite Award honoree Galal El-Behairy should have been released from prison. Despite finishing an unjust 3-year sentence for his writing in 2021, he remains unlawfully detained in Egypt to this day.
Alongside ARC and 9 other human rights organizations, PEN America sent a joint letter urging the Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. Motaz Zahran to raise our concerns about El-Behairy’s detention to the relevant authorities in Cairo.
We demand El-Behairy’s immediate release and humane treatment in custody, including access to medical care, legal counsel, and books. His ongoing detention violates Egyptian and international law:
Read the joint letter with @penamerica @pen_canada @peninternational @officialfreedomhouse, المنبر المصري لحقوق اﻹنسان. @menarightsgroup @humenaorg @tahririnstitute, and Democracy for the Arab World Now - DAWN. #FreeGalal
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/joint-letter-to-the-egyptian-ambassador-to-the-u-s-urging-action-on-the-ongoing-detention-of-galal-el-behairy/
“It feels like the world has forgotten about us,” said artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who recently served four years of his sentence in a maximum-security Cuban prison.
Read Cuban-American artist, writer, and ARC "Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists" summit participant Coco Fusco`s moving profile on Cuban artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. The artist has been unjustly imprisoned since he was arrested when anti-government protests swept the country.
https://hyperallergic.com/1028230/coco-fusco-dialogues-with-political-prisoner-luis-manuel-otero-alcantara/
#SOSCuba @peninternational @luismanuel.oteroalcantara @cocof_usco
Image credit: Carlos Martiel, “Untitled” (2025); Courtesy of the artist
“It feels like the world has forgotten about us,” said artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who recently served four years of his sentence in a maximum-security Cuban prison.
Read Cuban-American artist, writer, and ARC "Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists" summit participant Coco Fusco`s moving profile on Cuban artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. The artist has been unjustly imprisoned since he was arrested when anti-government protests swept the country.
https://hyperallergic.com/1028230/coco-fusco-dialogues-with-political-prisoner-luis-manuel-otero-alcantara/
#SOSCuba @peninternational @luismanuel.oteroalcantara @cocof_usco
Image credit: Carlos Martiel, “Untitled” (2025); Courtesy of the artist
"The space of freedom had shrunk even further. I realized that there were only two strategies: keep quiet or go to jail." — Slava PTRK, Russian street artist, activist, and The Art of Resistance participant.
Every other week, ARC is featuring an artist from our new digital exhibition, The Art of Resistance: Contemporary Art from Russia and Belarus.
This moving testament to the power of creative defiance in the face of authoritarianism brings together 13 visual artists from Russia and Belarus who have mobilized to oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and to advocate for peace.
See Slava PTRK’s impactful work, and read his testimony:
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/742-exhibition/
#ArtistsAgainstTheWar #artivism #TheArtofResistence
@peninternational @freemuse.98
"The space of freedom had shrunk even further. I realized that there were only two strategies: keep quiet or go to jail." — Slava PTRK, Russian street artist, activist, and The Art of Resistance participant.
Every other week, ARC is featuring an artist from our new digital exhibition, The Art of Resistance: Contemporary Art from Russia and Belarus.
This moving testament to the power of creative defiance in the face of authoritarianism brings together 13 visual artists from Russia and Belarus who have mobilized to oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and to advocate for peace.
See Slava PTRK’s impactful work, and read his testimony:
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/742-exhibition/
#ArtistsAgainstTheWar #artivism #TheArtofResistence
@peninternational @freemuse.98
“The United States withdrawal from UNESCO undermines one of the world’s leading institutions dedicated to defending artistic freedom, safeguarding cultural heritage, and promoting inclusive, democratic values.”
ARC today expressed its grave concerns over the U.S. administration’s announcement that it will fully withdraw from the agency. Read our full statement: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/us-withdraws-unesco-furthering-isolationist-policies/
@peninternational @penamerica @otm.network
“The United States withdrawal from UNESCO undermines one of the world’s leading institutions dedicated to defending artistic freedom, safeguarding cultural heritage, and promoting inclusive, democratic values.”
ARC today expressed its grave concerns over the U.S. administration’s announcement that it will fully withdraw from the agency. Read our full statement: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/us-withdraws-unesco-furthering-isolationist-policies/
@peninternational @penamerica @otm.network
"On 22 July 2024, a Cairo activist, cartoonist, and translator named Ashraf Omar was taken from his home by plainclothes officers. Forty-eight hours elapsed before there was any official acknowledgment of his arrest or confirmation of his wellbeing or location."
Today, Ashraf remains imprisoned. Read @cartooningforpeace, @cartoonistsrights, and @almanassa_ar’s full statement, co-signed by ARC:
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/marking-one-year-since-ashraf-omars-arrest/
@peninternational @committeetoprotectjournalists
@channeldraw
@rsfinternational
@freemuse.98
@indexcensorship
Image credit: Gianluca Costantini. Courtesy of the artist.
"On 22 July 2024, a Cairo activist, cartoonist, and translator named Ashraf Omar was taken from his home by plainclothes officers. Forty-eight hours elapsed before there was any official acknowledgment of his arrest or confirmation of his wellbeing or location."
Today, Ashraf remains imprisoned. Read @cartooningforpeace, @cartoonistsrights, and @almanassa_ar’s full statement, co-signed by ARC:
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/marking-one-year-since-ashraf-omars-arrest/
@peninternational @committeetoprotectjournalists
@channeldraw
@rsfinternational
@freemuse.98
@indexcensorship
Image credit: Gianluca Costantini. Courtesy of the artist.
ARC’s Executive Director Julie Trébault recently met with Palestinian poet Doha Kahlout @doha_kahlout, now living in France after she received support through the PAUSE program.
This initiative of the French state supports scientists and artists in exile by facilitating their placement at higher education and cultural institutions across France, while also advocating for academic and artistic freedom.
Doha is being sponsored by École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris-Clergy @ensapc and Columbia University in Paris @columbiainparis
We are so happy to have met Doha, and are immensely grateful that she can continue to create in safety.
@peninternational @bardcollege @maanforgaza
ARC’s Executive Director Julie Trébault recently met with Palestinian poet Doha Kahlout @doha_kahlout, now living in France after she received support through the PAUSE program.
This initiative of the French state supports scientists and artists in exile by facilitating their placement at higher education and cultural institutions across France, while also advocating for academic and artistic freedom.
Doha is being sponsored by École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris-Clergy @ensapc and Columbia University in Paris @columbiainparis
We are so happy to have met Doha, and are immensely grateful that she can continue to create in safety.
@peninternational @bardcollege @maanforgaza
"My role? It’s about making inhumane things visible." — 742, anonymous Russian visual artist, activist, and The Art of Resistance participant.
Every other week, ARC is featuring an artist from our new digital exhibition, The Art of Resistance: Contemporary Art from Russia and Belarus.
This moving testament to the power of creative defiance in the face of authoritarianism brings together 13 visual artists from Russia and Belarus who have mobilized to oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and to advocate for peace.
See 742’s impactful work, and read their testimony:
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/742-exhibition/
#ArtistsAgainstTheWar #artivism #TheArtofResistence
"My role? It’s about making inhumane things visible." — 742, anonymous Russian visual artist, activist, and The Art of Resistance participant.
Every other week, ARC is featuring an artist from our new digital exhibition, The Art of Resistance: Contemporary Art from Russia and Belarus.
This moving testament to the power of creative defiance in the face of authoritarianism brings together 13 visual artists from Russia and Belarus who have mobilized to oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and to advocate for peace.
See 742’s impactful work, and read their testimony:
https://artistsatriskconnection.org/exhibition/742-exhibition/
#ArtistsAgainstTheWar #artivism #TheArtofResistence
ARC is honored to receive The Wynn Kramarsky Freedom of Artistic Expression Award from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts @warholfoundation—a meaningful affirmation of our global mission to defend artistic freedom and support artists and cultural workers under threat.
As authoritarianism, protracted conflict, and repression continue to endanger creative voices, this recognition helps us continue expanding our reach and deepening our impact. Thank you for standing with artists at risk and ARC!
Read our full press release: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/arc-news/arc-honored-as-andy-warhol-foundation-2025-grantee-and-award-recipient/
ARC is honored to receive The Wynn Kramarsky Freedom of Artistic Expression Award from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts @warholfoundation—a meaningful affirmation of our global mission to defend artistic freedom and support artists and cultural workers under threat.
As authoritarianism, protracted conflict, and repression continue to endanger creative voices, this recognition helps us continue expanding our reach and deepening our impact. Thank you for standing with artists at risk and ARC!
Read our full press release: https://artistsatriskconnection.org/arc-news/arc-honored-as-andy-warhol-foundation-2025-grantee-and-award-recipient/
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