Arts and human rights are closely related and need each other.
Art can only flourish in an atmosphere of freedom from fear, violence and repression.
Democratic societies based on human rights provide the best institutional framework in which arts can thrive and artists are protected against repression and persecution.
At the same time, the universal language of the arts, which attracts and empowers human beings around the globe more than any other means of communication, is the most powerful and joyful medium to promote the universal values of human rights.
Human rights can facilitate the creation of spaces for artists and art to engage and flourish, through recognition and protection of the right to be creative, unpredictable, confronting, subversive, beautiful and ugly. Human rights provide the protection needed to break out of dogma, opening up possibilities for new thinking, which are often foregrounded in art.
Much of the human rights agenda is directed at bridging attitudinal disparities, such as prejudices based on race, religion, gender, age, nationality, culture and identity. Art can help to overcome those barriers, by bringing a counter-discourse, contesting privileged narratives and perspectives.