Safe Havens Freedom Talks presented the event: What we risk for art livestreaming on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Saturday 4 December 2021 at 10 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 6 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +0) / 7 p.m. CET (Stockholm, UTC +1).
Safe Havens is a once-a-year conference opportunity where artists, activists, NGOs, legal advisors, agencies and intergovernmental organizations meet and share their experiences. Organized by the independent NGO Safe Havens Freedom Talks (SH|FT), the conference will take place virtually this year from 2 to 4 December 2021. Starting on Thursday, 2 December with keynote performances, the Safe Havens Conference 2021 will end on Saturday, 4 December with a closing event including a moderated conversation with artists and a streamed concert, curated by Safemuse.
Moving away from the traditional structure, presentations and panel discussions, to the partially open space type, the conference will follow the last year’s format and host “Hive” conversations. Convened by various organizations in the field of artistic freedom in collaboration with SH|FT, there will be inspirational participants who will initiate the conversations from different international organizations. With loads of audience participation, the Hives will focus on crucial themes such as politics and the pandemic in Latin America, protections for creatives in Africa, building initiatives in the Middle East and Afghanistan: the Aftermath. In addition to the hive discussions and artistic interventions, there will be a workshop on the next steps of SH|FT, a lecture on the creatives’ mental health and two round tables with artists, moderated by artists.
This event is curated by Safemuse for the Safe Havens Conference 2021. It will physically take place in Kronesalen at Sentralen in Oslo and live-streamed to a global audience. The event will include conversations with various artists, as well as artistic interventions.
Artistic director: Hooman Sharifi
Moderator: Ingeborg Moa (director of the Norwegian Human Rights Fund)
Performing Artists:
-Yasmine El Baramawy (Egyptian musician, Oud performer, composer)
-Carlos Catun aka Gato (Guatemalan breakdancer)
-Ahmed Tobasi (Palestinian actor, director and educator)
-Rezan Betula (Kurdish performance artist)
-Per Oddvar Johansen (Norwegian jazz percussionist/drummer, composer)
-Hamid Sakhizada (Afghan musician, dambura performer and singer)
-Naïd Mubalegh (French/Hazara, flute player)
About the Safe Havens Conference
Since the first event in 2013, first hosted in Malmö, later in Cape Town and streamed during Covid, the annual Safe Havens conference has become established as a key global network meeting between artists, activists, NGOs, lawyers, agencies and intergovernmental organizations, on topics related to artistic freedom and the support to artists, writers as well as other culture producers and academics who face threats, persecution and censorship - sometimes referred to as the Arts Rights Justice sector. The conference is organized in a process of collaboration between different cultural operators and organizations, where the focus is directed on the connection between culture and human rights. Furthermore, the conference is a way to visualize the significant position of culture and academia in human rights advocacy and to share knowledge between cultural operators, scholars and human rights- and cultural organizations in this field.
About SH|FT
Safe Havens Freedom Talks (SH|FT) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of artists at risk and artistic freedom. SH|FT provides an inclusive platform for human rights defenders in the arts globally. It is a meeting place for various organizations, groups, institutions (non-governmental and state), individuals and artists who defend the rights of the persecuted creatives and academics. By stimulating mutual development through collective partnership and encouraging international collaboration, SH|FT aims to promote a better view of the field in total and share the knowledge on matters such as shelter city initiatives, international campaigns, funding opportunities, access to legal advice. Further, SH|FT strives to assess global and regional threats, enhance the understanding of the conditions of women, indigenous - and LGBTQI+ groups, learn about - and explore means of safe communication. SH|FT organizes live and virtual conferences and initiates thematic discussions while identifying and promoting key artists and activists to engage with wider communities. It also helps cross-border, cross-sector participants to see from each others’ perspectives through focused debates.
With funding from The Swedish Arts Council’s Programme for Artistic Freedom, SH|FT has secured the continuity of its actions for the years 2021 - 2023. The Programme for Artistic Freedom is realized through financial support by Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and aims to improve conditions for artists to create, display and distribute their work without being exposed to threats or harassments. The Swedish Institute is the main funder of the Freedom Talks series. An international development team from the network was brought together to form a new NGO under the name of Safe Havens Freedom Talks (SH|FT) to develop these initiatives. The Norwegian organization Safemuse has kindly stepped in as a fiscal sponsor for the early development of SH|FT.
Comments
The article is just the start of the conversation—we want to know what you think about this subject, too! HowlRound is a space for knowledge-sharing, and we welcome spirited, thoughtful, and on-topic dialogue. Find our full comments policy here