12 November 2008

Fledgling Group Seeks to Unite Artists to Support Human Rights

Artists for Human Rights promotes Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Board member Maria Ferrara, Artists for Human Rights founder Anne Archer, actress Jenna Elfman, Executive Director Michael Wisner

By Jane Morse
Staff Writer

Washington — Artists for Human Rights (AFHR) is only two years old, but already is attracting the attention of artists around the world willing to use their talents to educate others about their freedoms as defined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

The organization is the brainchild of Anne Archer, an American actress well known for film performances including Man of the House (2005), Clear and Present Danger (1994), Patriot Games (1992) and the 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction, for which she received an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

“Artists have the ability to touch society so profoundly that positive change can come about as a direct result,” Archer says on the AFHR Web page. “Artists have always been the greatest advocates of human rights because they know so well how vital it is that the individual’s freedom of self-expression is protected.”

Archer was inspired by the work of Mary Shuttleworth, founder and president of Youth for Human Rights International, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to teaching youth everywhere about human rights.

One of that group’s more ambitious projects was explaining each of the 30 articles of the UDHR in 30- to 60-second public service announcements televised earlier in 2008 in Europe.

“Anne was captivated by the fact that an artistic expression in a nonpreachy, aesthetic way could have an impact on the subject of human rights. And that’s really where the idea for Artists for Human Rights coalesced for her,” AFHR Executive Director Michael Wisner told America.gov.

“Our idea was to focus on activating, educating and getting artists out there promoting, disseminating [information] and educating on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and what that means to people,” Wisner explained.

Wisner, a writer and longtime advocate for the environment who helped Archer develop AFHR, praised the activism of board members like Thomas Lovejoy, who served for nearly a decade as the assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and Thomas Dine, the former president of Radio Free Europe in Prague, Czech Republic.

GETTING EXCITED ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS

Wisner said that one of AFHR’s more exciting campaigns involved securing exhibit space for some of its visual artist participants at the 2007 Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte in Florence, Italy.

The event, one of the world’s largest and most prestigious contemporary fine art shows, was attended by more than 20,000 people and featured works from 1,000 artists from more than 70 nations.

Works by AFHR artists had a human rights theme. They included Freedom, by photographer Michael Doven, Escape from Suppression, by painter Ron Anderson, and We Believe in Peace, by Pomm, well known for her paintings in watercolor.

Pomm, now the director for the visual artist members of AFHR, has helped organize AFHR exhibits in New York and Los Angeles.

According to Pomm, “Artists have a way of communicating which gets a story told. … Together we are using the power of artists’ communications to move the world toward one where all respect human rights and where human rights are a reality and not just a dream.”

AFHR’s participation in the Biennale event, Wisner said, sparked enthusiasm among local Italian artists who wanted to start their own AFHR chapter. Additional informal chapters have formed in the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa.

Wisner said AFHR is working on obtaining exhibit space for human rights artists at the 2009 Art Basel show in Miami Beach, Florida.

“Art Basel Miami Beach” is considered one of the most important art shows in the United States and is a sister event to Switzerland’s Art Basel, a prestigious international art show for the past 39 years. Wisner said more information about participating via AFHR will be posted soon on AFHR’s Web page.

BEYOND VISUAL ARTS

AFHR efforts are not limited to the visual arts. It has hosted several human rights-themed concerts around the United States, and now is working on educational public service announcements.

The organization is enlisting world-class photographers to illustrate a book explaining human rights, Wisner said.

Wisner emphasized that AFHR is encouraging artists to join together in addressing human rights issues, but it has no “pre-set agenda.”

“We have to look at points of agreement where we can work and have a dialogue,” he said. “We’re open to people of all creeds and nationalities.”