El Mundo, the major Spanish daily, dedicated a full-length feature to the role of Artists at Risk (AR) in defending artistic freedom and protecting the lives of artists globally.
The article examines the global rise of authoritarianism and the erosion of democratic freedoms, based on an interview with AR’s co-founders and directors. They discuss the growing challenges faced by artists and cultural workers worldwide, and how artistic freedom and human rights go hand in hand.
“The number of authoritarian governments is growing around the world, while democracy is retreating”, Marita Muukkonen says. “In Afghanistan, the Taliban have passed a law that effectively legalizes the enslavement of women.”
“Right now,” Ivor Stodolsky says, “the media spotlight is on Iran […] But [..] Sudan is experiencing its second genocide in ten years against Black Africans, with armies financed by Arab states. There are around 15 million displaced people, between 80,000 and 150,000 civilian deaths, and almost no media coverage.”
It’s a stark reminder that defending artists means defending democratic space itself.
The interview took place last April in the context of the opening of the major human-rights festival IrìdiaFest in Barcelona, which AR inaugurated with a keynote panel at the CCCB with the Iranian writer Mahsa Mohebali among others.
We express our heartfelt thanks to Vanessa Graell and El Mundo / La Lectura for bringing these issues—and the artists behind them—to a global Spanish-speaking audience.
Read the article in Spanish and in machine-translated English (with comments): https://artistsatrisk.org/2026/04/02/press-the-ngo-saving-artists-at-risk-the-number-of-authoritarian-governments-is-growing-worldwide-while-democracy-is-retreating-by-la-lectura/.
