Cutting-Edge Human Rights & the Arts Program Offers Students from Conflict Zones a Path to Art-Making

ARTnews recently published an article by Shanti Escalante-De Mattei about the Center for Human Rights and the Arts' (CHRA) inaugural class of students graduating with an MA in Human Rights and the Arts from Bard College Annandale. She explains how the interdisciplinary program, which examines the intersection between human rights and the arts through both academic and professional lenses, supports mature activists and artists from across the globe who live in ongoing crisis zones or who have experienced persecution.  "..(T)his program is meant to push back exactly on the thinking that access to art and scholarship is only for people with excess capital lying around," she writes.

“The idea was to create a space in which both the artists and activists could be together and co-create,” says Tania El Khoury, a performance artist and the Director of CHRA. “It was important to create an institution that really practices its politics. How can we build a space that puts people’s well-being first? How can we be in solidarity with people from around the world and understand inequality together?”

“I was applying to programs in Europe because I knew I couldn’t afford an expensive program [in the States],” says Carol Montealgre, an artist from Bogotá, Colombia working in performance, installation, and video and who just graduated from the program. “I had a friend who recommended the Center but I wasn’t applying because of the money, but he told me, ‘They got funding from OSUN, they have scholarships, stipends.’ Those were the magic words.”

Through the Ruins: Talks on Human Rights and the Arts 1

CHRA has also  published its first book, Through the Ruins: Talks on Human Rights and the Arts 1, edited by Fawz Kabra and documenting the work of contemporary activists, scholars, and artists from around the globe who have presented public talks at the Center. The book explores the range of contemporary practices at the intersection of human rights and the arts and contributors include Ashmina Ranjit, Border Forensics, Cassils, Emily Johnson, Faustin Linyekula, Hamed Sinno, Mark Sealy, and the White Pube. Educators can order a copy for free from Polina Malikin and the book can be purchased online at Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble.

Post Date: 06-09-2023