Safe Havens Freedom Talks presented a conversation focusing on Indigenous people's artistic rights from a legal perspective livestreaming on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Tuesday 23 November 2021.
Facilitated by Sofía Monterroso (senior officer, programs and operations, AFI), Ánde Somby (traditional Saami joik artist and professor of the faculty of law at the University of Tromsø) and Dr. Kristen Carpenter (Council Tree Professor of law and director of the American Indian law program at the University of Colorado Law School) had a conversation on the legal frameworks — domestic and international — offering protections for Indigenous artistic practice in this Freedom Talk.
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues met for its twentieth session on the theme “Peace, justice and strong institutions: the role of indigenous peoples in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16” in April 2021. Of the three recommendations made on this theme, one called for increased study of the relationship of law, “both formal and traditional,” to justice for Indigenous peoples. Over the last few years, there have also been significant developments in jurisprudence that expands or amends existing legal frameworks, such as intellectual property rights, to protect Indigenous art forms and Indigenous art makers. In this event, we will explore the particular protections offered to Indigenous art forms by existing legal frameworks, both at domestic and international levels. The talk will be composed of legal experts, advocates, and artists who will examine various threats to Indigenous art forms, and analyze the legal mechanisms that have been used to protect them. It will serve as the first installment in a series that will go on to explore particular case studies where diverse Indigenous groups have established legal protections for their art forms.
About Freedom Talks
Safe Havens—Freedom Talks series is closely connected to the annual global Safe Havens conference. The Freedom Talks series is focused on issues regarding threats towards artistic freedom, free press, and intangible heritage. Guests in the Freedom Talks series are highly knowledgeable and prolific actors in the global arts rights justice sector—fighting for artistic freedom. The Freedom Talks aim to share space and broaden the narrative of who can take center stage, by lending the brand to different organizations within the sector. The talks are presented in—or translated to—English. The talks can be watched through our website, our Facebook page and through our partner HowlRound, where also previous events are archived.
The Speakers @Artistic Freedom Initiative
Ánde Somby, born in Buolbmat, Norway, is a traditional Sami joik artist and an associate professor at the faculty of law at the University of Tromsø, specializing in Indigenous rights law. Somby has been an active yoiker since 1974. He has also been producing records with other yoikers. In 1985 he produced the LP record and MC cassette "Ean Máššan" with his father Aslak Somby (1913–2008) and mother Karen Kristine Porsanger Somby born in 1920. In 1991 he produced the record Ravddas Ravdii with Inga Juuso. In 2000 he produced the record “Deh” and in 2003 “Deh2” with his uncle Ivvár Niillas. Somby is also one of the cofounders of the Sámi publishing house and record label Dat. Together with the band Boknakaran from Tromsø and the acapella group Rosynka from Petrozavodsk in Russia Somby participated in the project “moya på Tvoja” (1998–2002). From 2003 to 2007 Somby was a member of the group Vajas (in English it means echo) and was the vocals and yoiker for the band.
Kristen Carpenter is Council Tree Professor of law and director of the American Indian law program at the University of Colorado Law School. Professor Carpenter served as a member of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) from 2017-2021 and as its chair from 2019-2020. While serving at the United Nations, Professor Carpenter worked on human rights issues regarding Indigenous peoples in Brazil, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, Finland, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, and other locales. With colleagues at the Native American Rights Fund, Carpenter is now co-lead on the Implementation Project, an effort to realize the aims of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United States. Professor Carpenter teaches and writes in the fields of human rights and Indigenous peoples law, with emphasis on rights to land, culture, and religion. She is the author of dozens of academic articles and several books on these topics. Professor Carpenter works frequently with Indigenous peoples, as well as museums and universities, cultural and religious organizations, national and local governments, and other institutions to help to advance understanding of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School.
Sofía Monterroso serves as AFI’s senior officer of programs and operations, supporting the planning and implementation of its programs, operations, and legal services for at-risk artists. Throughout her career, Sofía has dedicated herself to developing socially engaged public programming for international and domestic audiences. Her public affairs and project management experience include contributions to the US Department of State in Lusophone and Francophone Africa, and Civil Liberties and Public Policy of Amherst, Massachusetts. Prior to joining AFI, Ms. Monterroso completed a bachelor of arts with honors in gender studies and romance languages from Mount Holyoke College. Ms. Monterroso also holds a Five College Certificate in reproductive health, rights, and justice, and a certificate in art and cultural heritage law from Georgetown University Law Center. She is currently a Community Fellow with the Institute of Nonprofit Practice.
*The event is organized by the independent international NGO Safe Havens Freedom Talks (SH|FT), through collaborations within the global arts rights justice sector, and with Safemuse graciously supporting as its mentoring organization in the start-up period. SH|FT is supported by the Swedish Arts Council under the Programme for Artistic Freedom funded by Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and The Freedom Talks are sponsored by the Swedish Institute.
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