As authoritarian regimes crackdown on dissent, artists and creatives are bearing the brunt of the pressure, finding themselves at risk of threats, harassment, arrest, imprisonment, torture, and even death because of their creative work. This has become only more of a reality during the COVID-19 pandemic, as governments exploit “emergency powers” to silence criticism.

In response to the particular impact of these threats in Africa, the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) of PEN America has collaborated with Africa Human Rights Network (AHRN), Alert-Art-Afrik, Arterial Network, Freemuse, Hammerl Arts Rights Transfer (HART), The Museum of Movements, PEN Uganda, Safe Havens – the Malmö Meetings, and Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (SAHRDN) to launch Amani: Africa Creative Defence Network*. This coalition aims to provide rapid responses to creatives at risk in Africa, coordinate adequate support when artists and cultural professionals in Africa face danger because of their work, and support regional safe havens in Africa. This initiative was first conceived after the majority of these partners met at the 6th annual Safe Havens conference, a gathering of the global arts rights justice sector held in Cape Town last December, where they discussed the need for a collaborative protection mechanism to support artists across the region.

Though many organizations operate nationally, regionally, and internationally with mandates focused on artistic freedom and protecting artists at risk in Africa, a lack of clear communication between those organizations often causes assistance work to be duplicated and precludes artists from receiving adequate support in time. Thus, the establishment of the Amani network provides a simple and secure communication channel that will allow numerous organizations in Africa to more effectively monitor, share information, and collaborate on cases. As a regional network of mostly local organizations, Amani will be well situated to assist artists at risk, identify new resources at the local level, strengthen existing ones, and monitor violations of artistic freedom.

If you or someone you know is an artist at risk in Africa, you can get in touch with the network by filling out our secure form here, which is available in English and French.

The Amani network aims to ensure that creatives in distress in Africa have a large and coordinated safety net to turn to when they face risks. Your support in spreading the word about this initiative will be crucial to ensuring that artists will get the help they need. We kindly invite you to write, share, post and generally raise awareness about the network using this media kit.