Active since 2013, the annual Safe Havens conference has established itself as a key global network meeting between artists, activists, NGOs, lawyers and intergovernmental organisations, on topics related to artistic freedom and the support to artists, writers and other culture producers and academics who face threats, persecution and censorship – sometimes referred to as the Arts Rights Justice sector.
The conference has its starting point from a human rights perspective and aims to be a meeting place for human rights defenders within the arts and academia as a way to make visible cultural operators. The conference is organised in a process of collaboration between different cultural operators and organisations, where the focus is directed on the connection between culture and human rights. Furthermore, the conference is a way to visualise the significant position of culture and academia in human rights advocacy and to share knowledge between cultural operators, scholars, and human rights and cultural organisations in this field.
