The Role of Art in Keeping Civic Space Open

Throughout 2020 the Arctivism project from the Human Rights Defender Hub supported collaborations of activists and artists across the world responding to the outbreak of Covid-19 and its implications for human rights defenders, activism, and shrinking civic and political space.

Through film, music, spoken word poetry, story telling, zines, theatre, drag performance, murals, painting and sculpture 26 projects from 21 countries countered restrictions to civic and public space, limitations to rights and freedoms, and the stifling of dissent.

In a new series of Arctivism Conversations artists and activists will discuss the role art can play in promoting human rights and in affecting social change.