Safe Havens Freedom Talks

07/05/2026

📢 Join PACSOC's next public webinar!

"Culture and Resistance: Speak Out, Withdraw, or Be Cancelled"

A timely and important conversation with: 🔹 Maria Galea — Art advisor, cultural manager, and President of MEIA, Malta 🔹 Basma al-Sharif — Palestinian multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker 🔹 Hamza Abu Ayyash — Palestinian visual artist, calligrapher, and researcher

Facilitated by Dounia Benslimane, PACSOC Steering Committee member, Morocco.

📅 Wednesday, 13 May | 3:30 PM Palestine Time (UTC+3) 💻 Online — register via the link below!

Presented by the Palestinian Arts and Culture Solidarity Collective (PACSOC)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc8yinmHfl5MySz_KSkqpAKy71UlNjYYvcJikFzX1IEExvArQ/viewform

Public webinar: Culture and Resistance: Speak Out, Withdraw, or Be Cancelled. Speakers: Maria Galea, president of the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association (MEIA), Basma al-Sharif, a Berlin-based Palestinian multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker and Hamza Abu Ayyash, assembly member and...

05/05/2026

🌍 Exciting news! PANAF VOICES has launched — a brand new digital magazine from the Pan African Network for Artistic Freedom (PANAF).

The inaugural April edition explores artistic freedom across sub-Saharan Africa, with contributions from Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and more. It covers the intersection of art, law, technology, and repression — and celebrates the resilience of artists navigating censorship and digital surveillance. 🎨✊

Read it via the link below! 🔗

https://panaf.org/news/drum-rolls-introducing-panaf-voices-magazine/

Drum Rolls…….Introducing PANAF Voices Magazine PANAF Voices is a bold new digital platform dedicated to amplifying the voices of African artists and artivists who continue to shape, challenge, and redefine our societies. Through powerful storytelling, critical reflection, and creative expression...

30/04/2026

📢 Open Call for Workshop Proposals — Safe Havens Meeting 2026, Cambodia!

For the first time, the annual Safe Havens Meeting on artistic freedom is coming to Southeast Asia — 2–4 December 2026, Siem Reap 🇰🇭

Under the theme "SEA Differently: An Asian Lens on Artistic Freedom", we are calling for workshop proposals from Asian practitioners. Topics can cover any aspect of artistic freedom — from artists' rights and mobility to creative expression and beyond.

🗓️ Deadline: 1 June 2026 ❓ Q&A session: 13 May 2026

Find all details and submit your proposal via the MCH website — link below! 🔗

https://www.mekongculturalhub.org/news/2026/04/call-for-workshops-asian-perspectives-on-artistic-freedom/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRgHTRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeg5dvGpkwowf7VYA0BsY7t_Gd39YO4GiHtpzWLHswFBR72FN3N-fr7KoIj50_aem_orNNBTh5m7OaNZhzRvSZiQ

Living Arts International Cambodian Living Arts (CLA) Mekong Cultural Hub ArtsEquator CICADA Association សមាគមសុីកាដា

Bringing to life visions for a sustainable and inclusive Mekong region

28/04/2026

We are delighted to share the outcomes of SH|FT's General Assembly, which took place virtually on 24 April 2026. 🎉

The board was re-elected, and we are proud to continue working with the same dedicated people who have been guiding our work:
🔹 Kagiso Lesego Molope — Chair
🔹 Paminder Parbha — Vice Chair
🔹 Eleni Tsitsirikou — Board Member
🔹 Mary Ann DeVlieg — Board Member
🔹 Sofia Carrillo — Board Member

At the meeting, the annual and financial reports, along with the auditor's report for 2025, were presented and approved. The members also discussed and approved the annual plan and budget for 2026.

A warm thank you to all our members for their continued support — and a very special thank you to Jan Lothe Eriksen for his long-standing dedication and invaluable contribution to SH|FT as a board member. 🙏

23/04/2026

📢 Freemuse has launched the State of Artistic Freedom 2026 report — "Courage is Contagious."

From war zones to democracies under strain, artists in 2025 faced censorship, arrest, violence, and growing pressure to self-censor. But artists are fighting back — through music, film, satire, and underground networks. 🎨✊

Read the full report via the link below. 🔗

https://www.freemuse.org/freemuse-report-artists-worldwide-face-deepening-crisis?fbclid=IwY2xjawRW6YxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEetP3jzU5W2_oYDnuz1nAUVyELX7Fo3LxHjY5jeP5aORXsTNCHxM77wGG0tIU_aem_osOo3k8vul0Gd1diSkp5ow

Freemuse’s State of Artistic Freedom 2026 report, Courage is Contagious, documents what Freemuse describes as some of the most alarming conditions facing artists and cultural workers.

16/04/2026

🌱 Our website has just been updated!

If you are curious about our current and previous projects — including our Garden Sessions — now is a great time to have a look and explore what we have been up to. 🎨

Check it out via the link below! 🔗

https://sh-ft.org/garden-sessions/

🌿 The Garden Sessions is a concept for community gatherings of the creative and cultural ecosystem. Initiated in 2023 by SH|FT, these sessions address needs and opportunities within the field and inspire solidarity in the arts. The sessions are intended to raise awareness of regional challenges and opportunities and to identify mechanisms to bring participants from the region into closer contact with each other and with the wider global community. 🌐

Photo by Fredrik Elg

14/04/2026

📢 Register now for PACSOC's 8th Public Webinar!

"The Complicity of the United Nations in the Ongoing Genocide in Gaza" A lecture by Prof. Norman G. Finkelstein

Co-chaired by PACSOC Steering Committee members: 🔹 Iman Hammouri, Executive Director of the Popular Art Centre, Ramallah, Palestine 🔹 Mike van Graan, Playwright and Producer, Cape Town, South Africa

📅 Wednesday, 15 April 2026 | 3:30 PM Palestine Time (UTC+3) 💻 Online — register via the link below!

Presented by the Palestinian Arts and Culture Solidarity Collective (PACSOC)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_0Yf7XcSu3F5DXh9LXULrHlxB6t1iqeK1kW2da8iraltswQ/viewform

09/04/2026

There is still a chance to sign up for the Res Artis online workshop on hosting artists-at-risk!

🛡️ This 90-minute session will dive into the social and political pressures that put artists in danger and explain why different contexts need very different responses.

The conversation will be led by Ahmed Mourad Khanfir and Sam Brakarsh, both of whom bring years of experience supporting repressed voices across Africa and Europe. It is a great opportunity to learn how to build more effective and thoughtful support systems for those who need them most. 🎭

https://resartis.org/services/workshop-residencies-as-refuge/

Registration closes tomorrow, so make sure to get a name on the list 🌍

Register here: https://lnkd.in/dFa2gf3u

07/04/2026

📢 Applications are now open for the 10th Edition of Research to Strengthen the Culture of Knowledge (2026–2027)!

Ettijahat - Independent Culture / اتجاهات - ثقافة مستقلة is inviting research proposals focused on Cultural Policies in Syria — unpacking the legacy of the past and building new possibilities for the future. 🇸🇾

This edition seeks critical, research-based contributions that analyse the history of Syrian cultural policies, explore comparative Arab and international models, and propose applicable frameworks for the arts and culture sector today.

Practitioners and researchers working in the arts and related disciplines are encouraged to apply. 🔗
https://ettijahat.org/page/1685?fbclid=IwY2xjawRBxItleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeWPk-42HvQJ60na9_3DeGe5Xzadc7iRcdnKn-MWj4yeNtXigkDkifrnvnvJM_aem_LyKP_G-GuzeAELzWpu3kgw

Deadline: 14 May 2026

اتجاهات . ثقافة مستقلة

03/04/2026

🌍 The Cultural Mobility Forum 2026 is coming to Skopje, North Macedonia — and you can be part of it!

Organised by On the Move, co-produced with Platforma Kooperativa, and co-funded by the European Union 🇪🇺, this forum is the place to be for discussions on cultural mobility justice.

📅 29–30 April 2026 | Skopje, North Macedonia
🎟️ Free to attend — but registration is required by 15 April

Register now via the link below! 🔗

https://on-the-move.org/about/our-news/cultural-mobility-forum-2026-skopje-republic-north-macedonia

Do you want to be part of the discussion on cultural mobility justice? Register now for the Cultural Mobility Forum 29–30 April 2026, in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia.

31/03/2026

📽️ Another session from the 2025 Safe Havens Meeting is now available on our YouTube channel!

"The In-Between Archive: Connectivity, Records, and Transformation in the Arts" — curated by Fredrik Elg, Director at SH|FT, and facilitated by Dr Daniel Gad, Managing Director of UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy, Germany & Head of the Arts Rights Justice Library.

Featuring:
🔹 Jonida Gashi, Senior Researcher, Centre for Art Studies, Academy of Sciences, Albania
🔹 Armando Lulaj, Artist and Filmmaker, Founder and Co-director of Debatik Center of Contemporary Art
🔹 Asst. Prof. Sorayut Aiem-UeaYut, Department of Media Arts and Design, Faculty of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University
🔹 Karin Zackari, Ph.D., Researcher, Lund University

Watch the full session on our YouTube channel 👇️

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeRr3koP1II&t=4s

JONIDA GASHI is senior researcher at the Centre for Art Studies at the Academy of Sciences of Albania. Her research interests include contemporary art theory...