Artists at Risk (AR) has been an official Observer at the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions Committee and a part of the attendant Civil Society Forum since 2023.
AR’s directors Marita Muukkonen and Ivor Stodolsky attended the 18th session of the 2005 Convention at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris this January. They actively participated in events, including a new format in which the Committee of Convention met the Civil Society Forum directly for the first time.
Artists at Risk (AR) was honoured to be mentioned on multiple occasions during the Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention. Firstly, AR’s activities in 2022 and 2023 were given as an example of work carried out with the support of UNESCO’s Aschberg Fund and Heritage Emergency Fund. Secondly, the “Artists at Risk Pavilion” in Palazzo Zorzi, UNESCO’s Venice Headquarters, on the occasion of the Venice Biennale was given special mention. Thirdly, the Ukrainian delegate to the Conference of Parties made special mention of Artists at Risk (AR)’s significance to their country.
Stodolsky and Muukkonen also met several peers and stakeholders, including from the Swedish Arts Council (SAC) which supports AR’s operations in the Global South and was a key supporter of the AR Pavilion. They were also glad to meet their former UNESCO project officer Anaïs Chagankerian, and congratulate her on her promotion!
