Artists at Risk

BOGOTÁ: Inaugurating the Ecologists at Risk (ER) Latin America Residency Network (ER-RRAL) 🌿

Led by Perpetuum Mobile (PM), Ecologistas en Riesgo (ER) - Red de Residencias en América Latina (ER-RRAL), in Spanish, brings together representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean, founding a continental support network for eco-cultural practitioners at risk.

👥 The Finnish Ambasaddor Eija Rotinen opened the event by highlighting the importance of cooperation among civil society, cultural institutions and diplomatic actors. Co-Directors Marita Muukkonen and Ivor Stodolsky introduced the work of Perpetuum Mobile (PM), including Artists at Risk (AR) and the new Ecologists at Risk (ER) network, a long-term initiative supported by grants from the Nordic Culture Fund’s Globus and Globus Forward Programmes.

💬 Hosting organisations from across the region participated, including the

▪ Wuasikamas project, with the Inga indigenous leader Hernando Chindoy, which transformed illicit poppy cultivation into sustainable agriculture in Colombia;
▪ Kibii Foundation, with researcher Nicholaas Pinas, which works to preserve Maroon cultural heritage in Suriname;
▪ Pukañawi association, with by Humberto Mancilla, which uses film to defend human rights in Bolivia;
▪ Plataforma Caníbal, with Jaider Orsini, a community-based platform in Barranquilla, on Colombia's Caribbean coast;
▪ ER-RRAL’s first ER-Resident at Plataforma Caníbal, Ulises Matamoros, presented his work on the preservation of the Ngiba language through community digital repositories in Mexico;
▪ R.A.R.O. shared its cross-border residency model through a visit to its studios in Bogotá, a site once marked by privatization and now reclaimed by artists;
▪ Casa Sanacion Montana Mujeres with Bertha Neris, a safe haven for women in La Calera Mountains;
▪ ArteSumapaz Foundation with Peppa Herrera and Ric Dragon, shared their vision of an intentional community and sculpture park in Cundinamarca.

Stay tuned as ER-RRAL continues to grow!

Lives of Artists at Risk: Fatima Khaliqi & Masiha Khaliqi

After nearly three years of fear, hiding and uncertainty, the Afghan actress Fatima Khaliqi and her daughter, actress Masiha Khaliqi, have safely arrived in Germany with their family through the longstanding efforts of the Artists at Risk (AR) Afghanistan Team.

Their arrival is a moment of relief, after the excruciatingly long wait for the results of the German Federal Admission Program (BAP). Their story is a reminder that for artists, especially women artists in Afghanistan, the dangers are horrific, ongoing and life-threatening.

Both Fatima and Masiha Khaliqi were active in Afghan television before August 2021. Following the Taliban’s return to power, their public visibility as women artists made them targets of persecution, forcing the family into years of invisibility and living under constant threat.

While we welcome this family’s safe arrival, hundreds of Afghan artists remain trapped. Many were registered under BAP for years. This programme has now been closed for all new cases under the current conservative German government.

We welcome Fatima and Masiha Khaliqi and their family to Germany and wish them safety, rest and recovery after years of fear.

Issa Touma’s return to AR-Helsinki!

Touma is a self-taught photographer and filmmaker whose work is held in major international collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum (London) and FOMU (Antwerp). His films have received wide international recognition, with 9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo (2016) and Greetings from Aleppo (2017) earning major international awards and screenings at leading festivals worldwide.

Touma was an AR-Resident in Helsinki in 2014–2015. Following his residency, he returned to Aleppo and reopened the LePont Gallery for Contemporary Photography, continuing his commitment to artistic freedom and cultural life in Syria. He has since participated in the Artists at Risk (AR) Pavilion during the 2022 Biennale in Venice. His works are currently showcased in the AR Virtual Pavilion (link in bio!). Recently, the project “Losing Freedom of Choice,” on Syrian youth focusing on war-generation women has concluded after three years.

During this residency in Finland, Touma engaged actively with the AR community and partners: visiting AR–Porvoo; joining fellow AR–Helsinki residents Olga Karpenko and Tatiana Christova at the Ateneum; celebrating the opening festivities of the DocPoint Documentary Film Festival with Soila Valkama from YLE among others and meeting with key cultural and institutional actors such as the Finnish Film Foundation and AVEK Audiovisual Centre. Together with AR Co-Director Marita Muukkonen, he visited the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Parliament of Finland, where they met with MP Eva Biaudet.

We are especially happy to reunite with Tuoma in Helsinki this year as an AR-Resident at Saastamoinen Foundation. It has been a true pleasure to see him again, and to continue our collaboration while witnessing the new work and perspectives that emerged during his stay.

We thank Saastamoinen Foundation, The City of Helsinki, The Finnish Arts and Culture Agency (Kuvi), and the Ministry of Education and Culture for their continued support of AR-Safe Haven Helsinki residents.

✨ WE ARE AT WORK ✨
Residencies in the Performing Arts between Mobility, Practice & Community

We are excited to share that Artists at Risk (AR) participated in WE ARE AT WORK in Düsseldorf: a two-day gathering dedicated to reflecting on artistic residencies as spaces for experimentation, solidarity, and working on the unexpected.

Supported by the in cooperation with Bündnis Internationaler Produktionshäuser, 21 artists and collectives were enabled to explore new concepts in practice. The event brought everyone together for workshops, talks, performances, and feedback sessions, creating a shared space rooted in curiosity rather than competition.

From the opening panel “Working on the Unexpected. Artistic Work between Rehearsal and Artistic Research” to lightning talks, presentations, and the performance “Expect a Tiger” by Tigers’ Kitchen — the program fostered meaningful exchange on mobility, artistic research, and community-building in the performing arts.

We thank the organizers Fonds Darstellende Künste in cooperation with Bündnis Internationaler Produktionshäuser, hosts FFT Düsseldorf & Tanzhaus NRW and funders Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien and all artists and participants for two inspiring days of dialogue and reflection.

Photos by ​​Robin Junicke.