PEN International and ARC Announce the Winners of the Cuban Migrant Artists Resilience Fellowship
Support for Cuban artists forced to flee for their right to free expression
17 October: PEN International and the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) announces the inaugural cohort of ten participants in the Cuban Migrant Artists Resilience Fellowship. Selected from a noteworthy pool of 102 Cuban-born applicants, forced to leave their homeland due to their creative pursuits (56% within the last three years), the fellows span a range of artistic disciplines yet share an unwavering commitment to free artistic expression.
“Artists in exile forging new lives are often forced to confront the gruelling hurdle of advancing their creative pursuits in unfamiliar cultural landscapes," said Romana Cacchioli, PEN International Executive Director. "Our primary goal with this fellowship is to support Cuban artists as they try to build a new life free from oppression but devoid of the security of their networks and the comfort typically provided by one's homeland. We aim to help them not only explore their Cuban roots but also establish global artistic connections. Cuba's artists must continue to create, whether at home or abroad. We hope that their voices and creativity can thrive, transcending borders and inspiring change."
The Cuban Migrant Artists Resilience Fellowship provides artists with a resilience grant of $US 7,000 (approximately 5732 GBP) and a half year of personalized individual virtual training and professional development to support their unique artistic needs and aspirations. At the end of the fellowship, members will be invited to present their work, providing a valuable opportunity to share their creative visions with a broad audience.
The 2023 Cuban Migrant Artists Resilience fellows are:
Amaury Pacheco Del Monte – poet, performer, visual artist, and cultural producer
Ana Rosa Díaz Naranjo – poet, storyteller, plastic artist, and actress
Carlos Quintela – filmmaker
Claudia Patricia Pérez Olivera – artist and designer
cymoonv – digital artist
Daniel Sánchez Alfaro – illustrator and cartoonist
David D'Omni – musician
Nonardo Perea – writer and multidisciplinary artist
Ruber Esmil Osoria González – photographer
Solveig Font Martinez – curator
“At ARC, we have seen an escalation of repressive tactics by the Cuban government aimed at marginalizing artists, journalists, and independent media outlets in an attempt to maintain the state’s desired narrative and enforce social control,” said Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) Director Julie Trébault. “The global reputation of Cuba as a land of culture and arts is well deserved and can be preserved if the government immediately ceases its suppression of independent artists and releases all those detained as a result of their creative expression.”
“Autocratic governments fear artists for their ability to help us imagine better worlds established with basic human rights. Culture is a product of the people, not their government, and artists who help us question our lives and our perceptions of ourselves and others play an integral role in any healthy society. The international community must develop safeguards so that artists in Cuba and worldwide are free to express themselves.”
Additional Information about Cuba:
The report Método Cuba: Independent Artists’ Testimonies of Forced Exile, from ARC, PEN International, and the NGO Cubalex is based on research, expert analysis, and interviews with 17 Cuban artists in exile; the investigation outlines consistent patterns of abuse inflicted upon independent artists, orchestrated by the Cuban government as part of a broader campaign to stifle free expression in the country. This constant and harsh censorship routinely forces artists into exile as a sole avenue for safeguarding their creative freedom.
In November 2023, the Cuban State's human rights record will be evaluated as part of the fourth United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) cycle. The review is based on information provided by the State under review, reports from Special Procedures, treaty bodies, other UN entities, and other civil society actors. As the review involves consideration of previous recommendations and the State's level of implementation and progress, ARC and PEN International hope for renewed discussion on challenges to freedom of expression and the rights of writers and artists in the country.
According to the Freedom to Write Center Database, twenty-seven members of the creative community in Cuba, including journalists, are at high risk of various forms of persecution for exercising their right to freedom of expression. Ten of them are in exile, while others are imprisoned. One of them is Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo Pérez, a founder of the artistic collective San Isidro Movement and co-author of the song “Patria Y Vida,” who was sentenced to nine years in prison for his creative expression and leadership in protest movements last year. Recently, Castillo Pérez tattooed the words “Patria Y Vida” (Homeland and Life) on his arm and sewed his mouth shut to protest the ongoing harassment he experienced in prison.
As documented in the PEN International Case List 2022, "Impunity Reigns – Writers Resist," Cuba witnessed the detention of nine artists and the forced exile of 15 in 2022. Notably, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, a prominent independent artist, received a five-year prison sentence for his involvement in mass demonstrations during the protests of July 2021. He has been held in maximum security prisons ever since.
Recent years have also seen a notable increase in arbitrary detentions, short-term enforced disappearances, internet interruptions, travel limitations, and the forced expulsion of activists, artists, and human rights defenders in Cuba. The new Cuban Penal Code and recently approved Social Communication Law have intensified the scale of repression and harassment on the island, prompting a greater chilling effect on free expression.
Note to Editors:
About the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC)
PEN America leads the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), a program dedicated to assisting imperiled artists and fortifying the field of organizations that support them. ARC recently released A Safety Guide For Artists, a resource that offers practical strategies to help artists understand, navigate, and overcome risk and features an interview with Cuban artist Tania Bruguera about the state of free expression on the island. If you or someone you know is an artist at risk, contact ARC.
About PEN International
PEN International promotes literature and defends freedom of expression. It is a forum where writers meet freely to discuss their work and a voice speaking out for writers silenced in their own countries. PEN International was founded in London, UK, in 1921, simply as PEN. Today, it operates across five continents through 145 Centers in over 100 countries. PEN International is governed by the PEN Charter and the principles it embodies: unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations.
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.
For further information or to request an interview, please contact Dietlind Lerner dlerner@pen.org or Sabrina Tucci Sabrina.Tucci@pen-international.org