As Artists at Risk (AR) marks more than decade of work supporting artists under threat, Svenska Yle catches up on AR’s work, with a spotlight on Pavel Semchenko, the renowned theatre, performance and visual artist and co-founder and director of the legendary AKHE theatre.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Semchenko faced threats for publicly criticising Russia’s war in Ukraine, with the FSB censoring and finally closing down AKHE theatre. Semchenko was clearly at risk, and unable to continue creating freely, he found refuge in Helsinki through AR.
Pavel Semchenko has been prolific since his arrival in Finland in 2022. He designed the set for the play Neuvostoihmisen loppu (The Last of the Soviets) in Helsinki and collaborated with local projects such as directing 50+ Tanssikollektiivi’s 222 Wrong Movements dance performance. Aside from this, he has been part of numerous European productions, including stage-design for The Last Word – which features the last words in court of many dissidents AR has had the honour to work with, including Masha Alekhina and Nadja Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot – first performed at Berlin’s renowned Gorki Theater, and currently at the Marylebone Theatre in London.
The Yle piece also covers some of Artists at Risk (AR)’s statistics, including the relocation of more than one hundred Russian and Belarusian artists and dissidents such as Semchenko. AR has relocated hundreds more artists and cultural workers globally, since its founding in 2013, building and curating a global network of over 300 residencies for artists fleeing war and persecution globally.
Among its achievements, AR relocated over 650 principal applicants from Ukraine in all, and built a first residency-network within Ukraine which enabled residencies for over 100 principal Ukrainian artists – those who could not or did not wish to leave the country. This type of residency-infrastructure and practice is crucial for cultural resilience. For more about AR’s Ukrainian programmes, follow @artistsatrisk.ua on Instagram.
Artists at Risk (AR) continues to provide vital support for artists facing oppression, helping them find safe spaces to create and share their diverse forms of artistic expression. Over the last decade, co-directors Marita Muukkonen and Ivor Stodolsky, together with the strong AR Team, have built this international NGO dedicated to defending the basic rights and freedoms of cultural professionals worldwide. Semchenko’s story highlights why it’s crucial to stand by artists, especially in times of conflict.
We would like to express our thanks to Eva Pursiainen for following our path over the years, and the thorough article about AR’s development, with, as always in our work, full attention given to the artist.
Read the full Swedish article with video at this link: https://svenska.yle.fi/a/7-10063587
Read the English translation here: artistsatrisk.org/2024/09/23/press-konstnarer-i-knipa-by-svenska-yle/
