The Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists Summit
By Toni Shapiro-Phim, PhD, Director, Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts, Brandeis University
Omaid Sharifi (with mic), founder of ArtLords in Afghanistan, in conversation with Octopizzo, Khaled Jarrar, Coco Fusco, and Mari Spirito, Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists, BRIC, 2024. Photo by Toni Shapiro-Phim
I was lucky to attend the Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists Summit held in Brooklyn, New York, on June 7 & 8 of this year. Presented by Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) and Art At A Time Like This (ATLT), and convened at BRIC, an arts and media institution whose work includes visual and performing arts, media, and civic action, the gathering put a spotlight on censorship imposed on artists by authorities the world over, and highlighted creative means by which individuals and communities counter suppression, advocate for artistic freedom, and champion human rights.
The official Summit program states:
Over the past few years, ARC and ATLT have observed a dramatic increase in artistic censorship, ranging from book bans and anti-drag legislation in the U.S. to unjust laws worldwide that threaten artists and seek to erase rich cultures… The Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists Summit brings together renowned socially engaged artists and cultural workers to explore the strong links between art and human rights and help us envision a world in which art inspires and artists are free to create.
Over the course of one evening and one full day we were treated to compelling and important, indeed urgent, conversations amongst, and panel presentations by artists, cultural workers, and scholars introducing us to artwork and experiences of artists in widely diverse cultural and political contexts including Afghanistan, Cuba, and Sudan, as well as Mexico, Palestine, and the United States, among others. Topics ranged from “Challenges Facing Artists in Authoritarian Regimes,” “Artists at the Forefront of Social Movements,” and “Resiliency in Exile,” to censorship in discrete political and cultural settings across the globe. Speakers delved into issues of race, gender, Indigeneity, and more in the context of such control and restriction. Kenyan recording and performing artist Octopizzo, and Vietnamese singer and composer Mai Khôi were featured performers.
Octopizzo in performance, Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists, BRIC, 2024. Photo by Toni Shapiro-Phim
Below are just a few notes and images from an event replete with complex, thought-provoking (at times provocative), and captivating discussions and art.
Shirin Neshat (with mic) in conversation with Julie Trébault. Photo on screen by Shirin Neshat, Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists, BRIC, 2024. Photo by Toni Shapiro-Phim
Photographer and videographer Shirin Neshat’s conversation with ARC director Julie Trébault, which opened the weekend event, underscored how the forced shift in Iran from Persian to Islamic culture remains “central to our pain,” and that “fear has been a deep part of being Iranian,” for several generations. In the face of this, Iranian artists counter intimidation through metaphor and poetry, being at once creative and subversive.
Nikole Hannah-Jones (with mic) in conversation with Aruna D'Souza, Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists, BRIC, 2024. Photo by Toni Shapiro-Phim
We heard a recognition from celebrated journalist, writer, and educator Nikole Hannah-Jones of how hard it is to be hopeful in the U.S. at the moment, especially for Black women, who “sit at the intersection of all injustices.” She encouraged us to focus attention on state and local issues and media, as local politics influence our lives so greatly. Oppressors “have us scattered and fighting on many fronts,” she pointed out, reminding us that one path toward constructive impact is the identifying of an institution or issue “that is most important to you, and fight[ing] there.”
Mai Khôi (center) in conversation with Rania Mamoun and Dinaw Mengestu, Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists, BRIC, 2024. Photo by Toni Shapiro-Phim
Pop star Mai Khôi, in addition to presenting a live performance, took part in a panel discussion about life in exile. She left Vietnam after becoming a pro-democracy activist and experiencing interrogation and detention by the police. A new home doesn’t necessarily come with a warm welcome, however, she has found. She told us that many Vietnamese Americans oppose her progressive politics and thus reject her as an artist whereas they had considered her a superstar when she was far away and opposing policies of a communist government.
Dread Scott (with mic) in conversation with Samia Halaby and Barbara Pollack, Dangerous Art, Endangered Artists, BRIC, 2024. Photo by Toni Shapiro-Phim
In closing I’ll share U.S. visual artist Dread Scott’s answer when asked for whom he creates his art. His audience is “those who oppose oppression,” he said. He aims to help them consider “how we might get free.” “We don’t need fascists to be better people: we need to defeat them.”
As this newsletter is being sent out, a recording of the Summit is expected to soon be available on ARC’s YouTube channel.