PRESS: Artists at Risk (AR)—A Mondial Institution for Art Practitioners under Threat by e-flux

Artists at Risk​ (AR) is a new institution at the intersection of human rights and the arts. AR is dedicated to mapping the field of persecuted visual art practitioners, facilitating their safe passage from their countries of origin, hosting them at “AR-Safe Haven Residencies” and curating related projects.

Our first public call is now open. Rather than as asylum seekers or refugees, we welcome AR-Residents as honoured visiting art professionals. AR-Residencies enables practitioners to take a “breather” from their home country, or to use the programme as a “stepping stone” to re-orient their professional lives. Art practitioners at risk of grievous suppression of freedom of expression, persecution or politically motivated threats to their basic freedoms may apply here. An international jury will select AR-Residents to be granted short or long-term residencies.

The public launch of AR and introduction to AR-Safe Haven Athens is taking place in Athens (Athinas 55 / Varvakios Square Pavilion), on April 7 from 2pm-5pm. Perpetuum Mobile (PM) will also present the AR Pavilion, an exhibition with AR-Resident artists Pinar Öğrenci, Erkan Özgen and Issa Touma, curated by Marita Muukkonen and Ivor Stodolsky of PM. Our events in Athens include the nomadic political talkshow Talk Real, by European Alternatives.

Scope
Artists at Risk (AR) is designed as an institution of worldwide scope. Visual artists will be AR’s primary focus, although other creative intellectuals—such as theatre and film practitioners, or others that need assistance beyond that which can be provided by organisations such as PEN, SafeMUSE or Freemuse—may find placement at AR. Indeed, the musician Ramy Essam, “the singer of Tahrir Square”, was our first AR-Resident. As part of a collective effort with its many partners and networks, including PEN-America (ARCoalition), ICORN (The International Cities of Refuge Network) and new funding opportunities, AR is taking the first steps towards establishing a type of PEN for visual artists at risk.

AR-Residencies

AR-Safe Haven Helsinki, operating under various titles since 2014, is co-organised in cooperation with HIAP-Helsinki International Artists Programme, and is funded by the City of Helsinki Cultural Office.

AR-Safe Haven Athens will receive its first AR-Resident in spring 2017, funded by the EU “Re-Build Refuge Europe” project. AR-Athens has developed out of local partnerships, and was part of Athens Biennale 2015-2016.

AR-Safe Haven Berlin is being launched in 2017 as part of the same EU project, and is hosted in partnership with SAVVY Contemporary.

AR-Saari Residence/Saastamoinen Foundation includes two months on the west coast of Finland, followed by a one-months stay in Helsinki.

AR at Wysing Arts Centre (near Cambridge, England) is launching a dedicated 3-month AR-Residency in 2017.

AR at the Nordic Black Theatre (Oslo) is hosted by one of the Nordic Region’s oldest transcultural performing arts institutions.

AR at Free Home University (Lecce, Italy) is funded by Musagetes, Canada.

AR-Resistance Residency (Provence, France) commemorates the underground resistance fighter Lisa Fittko (guide to Walter Benjamin) and resistance worldwide.

Further residencies are in the process of joining this growing network.

Advisory Board

Maria Alyokhina (Pussy Riot)
Hrag Vartanian (Editor-in-Chief, Hyperallergic.com)
Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung (Savvy Contemporary/Curator-at-large, documenta14)
Helge Lunde (Executive Director, ICORN)
Julie Trebault (Artists at Risk Coalition, PEN America)

The European Parliament honoured Perpetuum Mobile with the CIVI EUROPAEO PRAEMIUM (the European Citizen’s Prize) for AR, and Safe Haven Helsinki won the Annual Art Act Award in 2016.

Artists at Risk (AR) is a Perpetuum Mobilεzation

Perpetuum Mobilε (PM) is a curatorial platform which brings together art, engaged practice and enquiry. PM’s longer-term thematic platforms include the Re-Aligned Project, the Perpetual Pavilion, the Perestroika Project, The Arts Assembly, Artists at Risk, Sino-Fi and Mobile Talks.

Co-Founding Directors: Marita Muukkonen and Ivor Stodolsky (in alternating order)
Secure chat: Element (@artistsatrisk:matrix.org).
Email: artistsatrisk [​at​] gmail.com (PGP-encryption available)