The arts and human rights
by Lisle Turner
There's a powerful connection between artists of all kinds and human rights. From Amnesty's earliest days, this has been demonstrated by the support our work has received - from Picasso's gift of a peace dove image to the Secret Policeman's Ball comedy shows.
Artists have always told stories. The best stories move people, illuminate their lives. We share the emotions of a character in the film or play, photograph or painting. Songs and poems convey feelings too strong for simple speech.
Amnesty deals with stories both shocking and true. different art forms can make our stories easier to hear, can transform shock into emotion - and inspire action. Many who first heard of Amnesty through a comedy show have gone on to become committed human rights activists.
Artist and activist sometimes stand up against the establishment to say what needs to be said in the name of humanity. Art communicates across boundaries of geography, politics, gender and race. Human rights too, cross all divides and belong to every individual on the planet.
Freedom of expression is vital for an artist's work and the human rights activist works to protect that very right. But in the end the relationship is more fundamental. We experience art together. it makes us feel human, and moves us to protect the human rights of others. Many artists rally to our cause. They offer their time and talent generously and with enthusiasm. They help get our human rights message across. We ask some of them why they chose to get involved with human rights.
Martin McDonagh - Playwright
Art, like human rights, should be for everyone. Everyone has a voice and should use it... Noone sees the world in exactly the same way. you don't see the world through the same eyes as I do. Nobody will see how you think and feel about the world unless you express it some way. I'd like to hear your stories as much as you might like to hear mine.
Oscar Torres - Movie Scriptwriter
Artists can bring big issues home to people - for example through Bono and U2 young people get an insight into peace, human rights, what we are doing to our environment. This can awaken their consciousness in a way politics may not. Movies can inspire people - my first purpose in writing my story (Innocent Voices) was a kind of exorcism. I did not realise until 9/11 that I had carried the weight of my El Salvador war for 18 years. I faced myself, and came to realise it was bigger than me. Child soldiers of the world face the same damage. War doesn't end when the war ends. You carry it inside you for the rest of your life.
Telling a story on film helps people to understand it visually, emotionally. Human rights are universal - and movies can cross all boundaries. In Berlin young people gave the film an award. In Japan it was given a special rating to encourage children to see it. But in the UsA no-one under 18 can see it. Artists are a leading voice for freedom - and for me this means freedom from fear. Artists who are fearless also get into trouble. Truth comes out of the light that artists can bring and the powerful often fear this.
Shappi Khorsandi - Comedian
Comedy can give self-confidence to people who believe in something but feel that they are alone. Comedy can help cement the feelings of a group of people about a certain issue. In a club if a comic makes a point, in a humorous fashion, about say Palestine, and you all laugh together it gives you reassurance that there are like-minded people. It gives the strength to move on and do something about it. It can give you the self-confidence to act on what you believe in rather than to simply worry by yourself.
I grew up with a father who is an exiled Iranian writer and satirist. I guess anyone who is in political exile, if you're raised in that environment, there's no way you can turn a blind eye to what's going on in the world. As a comic or any kind of artist you examine yourself but you also have to examine the world around you.
Terry Gilliam - Film Director
Now, as in the days when we first performed the Secret Policeman's Ball, governments are really keen on locking up people they don't like. We have to have eyes and ears out all the time and voices that will shout out and say this is wrong, this is terrible. Amnesty International is that voice and if artists add theirs to it, this voice will become so loud, so powerful that the bad guys are forced to listen.
Carlos Reyes-Manzo - Photographer and Poet
As artists it is our role to challenge the establishment over human rights abuses. By establishment I mean dictators or democratically elected governments who use their power to oppress the people who elected them. With my work I ask questions: why is there a war in Iraq where so many people are dying? Why is the British government involved in illegal rendition and torture? Then it is up to the establishment to answer. We have voice, sometimes a noisy voice, and we are present in the community. We conceptualise and communicate about human rights in a way people understand. This is why freedom of expression is so important and why we must defend it at all costs. The artist should be able to speak loudly, to put out his ideas clearly and with no fear. I will defend their right to speak with complete freedom of expression with the last little bit of life in me.
Jo Brand - Comedian
If you really think about it 99.9% of us should support human rights. Politically, comedy can be used as a weapon, to make certain points and to investigate the truth about what is going on. It can be very effective because it is something that more people may choose to tune in to than what they might consider a serious programme about human rights. There is a responsibility that goes with this. When the military took over in Burma and it became myanmar two comedians were imprisoned for their 'unacceptable' ideas. It really brought home to me that someone who is doing exactly the same job as I am in another country does not have the same freedom to say what they want to say. That pushed me towards feeling it was my responsibility to support campaigns on human and social rights.
Amnesty Magazine, July/August 2006 issue
