“I had a beautiful idea that graffiti in Korea could be a little closer to the public.” — Taeyong Jeong Once a week, ARC shares an artwork from one of the artists we’ve featured in the past. This week, we highlight Taeyong Jeong.

Join us at “Cultural Rights Now: Voices at Risk, Access in Action” at MONDIACULT 2025 in Barcelona on October 1!

🏝️ Coco Fusco: Tomorrow, I Will Become an Island - Don't miss it! ARC is proud to highlight El Museo del Barrio’s @elmuseo.bsky.social exhibition of a longtime ally of ARC, Cuban-American artist and writer Coco Fusco @cocofusco.bsky.social

🌟🖋Alaa is FREE! British-Egyptian writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah was released last night from Wadi El-Natrun prison in Egypt and reunited with his mother Laila Soueif, and sister Sanaa Seif, in Cairo.

“Art is the soft force for change.” – Shareef Sarhan Once a week, ARC shares an artwork from one of the artists we’ve featured in the past. This week, we highlight Shareef. 1/5

Join us @ "Weaving Cultural Futures” at MONDIACULT 2025 in Barcelona on Sept 29! As part of our renewed efforts to bring issues of artistic freedom to the UN world stage, this session will explore how feminist advocacy and local governance can shape cultural futures.

One month ago, ARC marked the three-year anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power, and a devastating situation for the country’s artists that emerged. We remain profoundly inspired by those who continue to create in the face of mounting dangers. 1/5

“War does not spare anyone.” – Tamara Shevchuk Every Saturday, ARC shares an artwork from one of the artists we’ve featured in the past. This week, we highlight Tamara.

Artists around the world are stepping beyond the studio to foster more open and just societies. In Kathmandu, rapper and engineer Balen Shah’s rise as mayor shows how artists can shape civic life. His story is one of many that remind us: art is power!

“This sharp increase is alarming and points to a rapidly deteriorating climate for artistic freedom domestically, particularly for artists engaged in politically sensitive or socially critical work, or those belonging to marginalized communities..."

“The snipers were positioned at the entrance, keeping the cemetery in their sights as if the dead might rise to take Putin.” – Party of the Dead (Max Evstropov), Russian multidisciplinary artist, activist, and curator (1/2).

On the one-year anniversary of artist Gao Zhen’s detention in China, ARC, HRF, and civil society partners condemn his ongoing imprisonment and the exit ban placed on his wife. We push for his immediate release and the safe return of his family to the United States. @hrf.org #FreeGaoZhen

Artistic freedom is non-negotiable. ARC joins 275+ leaders and 150+ institutions in demanding courage over censorship. We are grateful to be among the key cultural organizations spearheading this important initiative!

#Cuba 🇨🇺 URGENT | Maykel Castillo has been held incommunicado and in solitary confinement since 16 August, due to a fight instigated by another inmate. We demand that the punishment be lifted and that he be allowed to speak with his family. youtube.com/watch?v=O6tu... @crdefenders.bsky.social‬

🇨🇺 Alertamos sobre la situación de Maykel Castillo, incomunicado y en una celda de castigo desde el 16 de agosto, por una pelea instigada por un preso común. Exigimos que se levante el castigo impuesto y se le permita comunicarse con su familia. youtube.com/watch?v=O6tu... @crdefenders.bsky.social

Meet Franki C. (法蘭奇), a Taiwan-based Hong Kong playwright and interdisciplinary artist who blends theatre, activism, and social change. Their award-winning work explores migration, resistance and memory, amplifying marginalized voices.

“Now it all reappeared in a flash: the war-scarred streets, the buried homes, the shattered walls. How had I held on to every detail of the damage, after trying so hard to repair it in my mind?" – Doha Kahlout, a poet and teacher from Gaza.

"It is very brave to remain an artist without a foundation and understanding of where to go next." –Lesia Pcholka, Belarusian artist, archivist, and activist (1/2) Every other week ARC is featuring an artist from our new digital exhibition, “The Art of Resistance.”

“When Congress and the city of Chicago intend to outlaw your work, it shows the power of art, but also the extraordinary lengths [to which] the government is willing to go." — Dread Scott, ARC Safety Guide contributor and Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists Summit participant.

“It would be a grave error for the United States not to recognize that Trump’s disdain for cultural preservation is part of a broader assault on human rights, democracy, free expression and artistic freedom. It is a story repeated across the world and throughout time.”

Egyptian poet Galal El-Behairy should have been released from prison 4 years ago today. He has now spent over 7 years behind bars. Read our joint letter: artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/jo...

“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.

“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.”

"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."

"My role? It’s about making inhumane things visible." — 742, anonymous Russian visual artist, activist, and "The Art of Resistance" participant.

In commemoration of Cuba's mass democracy protests in July of 2021, known as #11J, ARC is highlighting our report Método Cuba, which brings together the testimonials of 17 exiled Cuban artists in a powerful exposé on the harsh realities faced by Cuba’s artistic community. 1/3

ARC is honored and immensely grateful to receive The Wynn Kramarsky Freedom of Artistic Expression Award from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts (@warholfoundation.bsky.social)—a powerful endorsement of our global mission to protect artists and cultural workers at risk. 1/2

Are you an artist, performer, cultural or heritage worker? Have you faced challenges during times of emergencies and crisis — displacement, lost income, increased responsibilities, or censorship?

Last month, ARC held "Music, Freedom, and Global Lessons to Confront National Challenges,” cosponsored by @madein-ny.bsky.social. (1/3)

Last week, ARC held "Music, Freedom, and Global Lessons to Confront National Challenges,” cosponsored by @madein-ny.bsky.social. (1/3)

🧵“There are few words left to adequately condemn in its totality the depravity of the Israeli government’s attacks and campaign of erasure against the Palestinian people, its art, culture, land, and memory.” — ARC Executive Director Julie Trébault. (1/3) artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/ar...

📢 ARC in ‪@nytimes.com 📰 ARC Exec Dir Julie Trébault spoke w/ The New York Times for a piece by @lydiadepillis.bsky.social , Graham Bowley, and Robin Pogrebin, highlighting how GSA staff cuts pose serious risks for protecting a century+ of American art. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/a...

“Each one of us loves their country and each one of us fears for their country. However, each one of us has a personal vision that does not contradict the country’s interest.” — Galal El-Behairy (1/3) artistsatriskconnection.org/artist-voice...

“Probably, I was the first political prisoner asking for pencils, brushes and paints." – Philippenzo, Russian graffiti artist. Every other week, ARC is featuring an artist from our new digital exhibition, The Art of Resistance: Contemporary Art from Russia and Belarus.

"I don’t tell this story often, and have never told it in such detail publicly before. However, given our current moment of crisis in the United States, only a few months into the second Trump administration, it seems an important story to tell." -

🇵🇸 “Visual projects are a transfer of the lives of the audience and their stories by using art to transform destruction and devastation into love, hope, and life,” shared the multidisciplinary Palestinian artist Shareef Sarhan with ARC. (1/3)

Saturday was World Music Day! From our recent event as part of New York Music Month to supporting musical performances from artists at risk and much more, ARC fervently believes in and uplifts the power of music to push for social change. (1/2)

“This latest arrest of Toomaj Salehi, after previous arrests and even a commuted death sentence, is yet another chapter in a campaign of sustained harassment that the rapper is facing for his public comments.” 1/3

🕊️ Yesterday in Paris, ARC Executive Director Julie Trébault, with Cité international des arts, On the Move, and DutchCulture, had an inspiring conversation with refugee artists: Taigué Ahmed, a dancer from Chad, and Zhenya Machneva, a textile artist from Russia. (1/5)

🧵ARC strongly condemns the Israeli targeting of civilians in armed conflict, including the devastating loss of artists and cultural voices. (1/3)

Last week, ARC held "Music, Freedom, and Global Lessons to Confront National Challenges,” cosponsored by @madein-ny.bsky.social. (1/3)

Australian writer @alistairkitchen.bsky.social was detained & deported for writings on student protests from his time at Columbia. His case adds to a growing pattern noted by artists & scholars. pen.org/press-releas... @penamerica.bsky.social @peninternational.bsky.social @penmelbourne.bsky.social

This Wednesday, don't miss "Javad Daraei: Two Dead Films and One Still Alive." Hosted at Cameo Cinema in Edinburgh, the screenings are part of Refugee Festival Scotland and will be followed by a conversation with Daraei on his journey and creative process. www.picturehouses.com/movie-detail...

"Our land is united by the experience of this violence; that’s what brings us closer together." –Uladzimir Hramovich, Belarusian multidisciplinary artist, activist, and The Art of Resistance participant. (1/2)

ARC strongly condemns the Whitney Museum’s firing of ISP Associate Director Sara Nadal-Melsió and suspension of the entire program. These events occurred following the cancellation of a capstone performance about Palestinian mourning and resistance. (1/3) artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/wh...

Today is the day! Join ARC and @madein-ny.bsky.social (MOME) at 12:30 PM ET for the webinar ""Music, Freedom, and Global Lessons to Confront National Challenges.” There’s still time to register!⬇️ bit.ly/arc-nymusicmonth #NYMUSICMONTH

Get to know the speakers in ARC’s upcoming event on 11 June at 12:30 PM ET, "Music, Freedom, and Global Lessons to Confront National Challenges,” co-sponsored by @madein-ny.bsky.social‬ (MOME). (1/6) 🧵 artistsatriskconnection.org/event/arc-ne...

"This renewed travel ban is a grave threat to international cultural exchange and freedom of expression." said in part ARC Executive Director Julie Trébault (1/3) artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/wh...

#Cuba: PEN International and Artists at Risk Connection condemn the ongoing judicial harassment and repression against academics and writers Alina Bárbara López Hernández and Jenny Victoria Pantoja Torres. Read our joint statement ➡️ www.pen-international.org/news/cuba-pe...

🇨🇺 #Cuba | ARC & @peninternational.bsky.social denounce the continued persecution of the writers Alina Bárbara López Hernández & Jenny Victoria Pantoja Torres. The sustained harassment highlights the erosion of speech and protest rights on the island. (1/2) artistsatriskconnection.org/statement/pe...