From Donetsk to Mariupol to Kyiv, Ukraine, Diana Berg transformed her practice from activist to artist, curator, and cultural manager amidst war and displacement. Founder of Mariupol’s Platform Tu, she has been working with gender inequality and human rights issues through art, persisting in activism and cultural preservation after being displaced twice by war. Diana’s work exploring topics of memory and war has gained national and international recognition. At documenta fifteen, she coordinated the 3-day Ukrainian program. Diana is currently developing a project on the environmental crises in the east of Ukraine affected by Russian ecocide. She is committed to leveraging art for social justice and environmental awareness.

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Maka Chkhaidze is a cultural manager and curator. With a background as an actress, Maka’s primary interest lies in researching and using performing art as a tool in building relations between disconnected, underrepresented groups of society. In 2022, Maka founded the non-profit organization InForm – Platform for Inclusive Minds to advocate for and bring the disability narrative into the contemporary art scene in Georgia, and to link contemporary arts and disability communities. She formed an inclusive contemporary dance theater group of mixed ability dancers and actors with the goal of developing original and collaborative, local and international performing art productions, educational programs and inclusive arts community.

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Dr. Mary Ann DeVlieg is an independent consultant, evaluator, facilitator and speaker, and an Expert for the Council of Europe’s initiative on artistic freedom: Free to Create/Create to be Free. Since 2010 she protected and defended the human rights of artists-at-risk as a case worker. She founded the EU working group, Arts-Rights-Justice; was freeDimensional’s Co-Director (2013-2015) and a co-founder of the Arts-Rights-Justice Academy, University of Hildesheim. Former Secretary General of IETM (1994-2013), the international network for contemporary performing arts. She founded On the Move and Roberto Cimetta Fund for Mobility in the Mediterranean, is currently a Board member of Ettijahat-Independent Culture and of SH|FT Safe Havens Freedom Talks. Her PhD examined the rights of relocated artists in the EU cultural policy and practice landscape.

Sabina Fattakh, a Kazakh artist, DJ, and activist, navigates her creative journey through a decolonial and feminist lens, challenging hegemonic narratives while celebrating her cultural heritage. Her DJ sets serve as a form of cultural resistance, blending traditional Kazakh melodies with contemporary beats, reclaiming spaces and narratives often silenced by colonial histories. Embracing her identity as a Qumalaqshi, she incorporates traditional nomadic divination practices into her performances, grounding her art in ancestral knowledge. Through her activism, Sabina advocates for decolonization and inclusivity, working towards a world where diverse voices are heard and valued.

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Olha Filonchuk is a multidisciplinary artist, theater set and costume designer, and art teacher. Olha’s current practice focuses on visual, multidisciplinary art. Working with refugee communities, Olha explores the topic of forced migration, issues of national and cultural identity, and human-nature relationships using documentary data and oral history in installations, artbooks, and assemblages. She created around 50 performances in Ukraine and Europe. Olha co-founded the immersive Baby Theater for children under 3 in Kyiv. Originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, Olha temporarily moved to Thuringen, Germany, in 2022 after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

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Yohann Floch is the Director of Operations at On the Move, the international network dedicated to artistic and cultural mobility, and the Director of FACE, a resource platform that facilitates European capacity-building programmes in the contemporary performing arts field.

Throughout his career, Yohann has designed, coordinated, and contributed to numerous European cooperation projects and pilot international collaborations while working for independent arts organisations and cultural institutions. He serves governmental bodies and private foundations as external expert and leads or co-authors cultural policy reports.

Previously, Yohann held various leadership positions, including Secretary General of the European Dancehouse Network (Spain), Director of Skåne’s International Resource Office (Sweden), Coordinator of Dansehallerne’s Nordic dance network (Denmark), and Coordinator of the Circostrada network (France).

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A native of Lebanon, Wissam Kahi co-founded the catering company Eat Offbeat with his sister, Manal Kahi. They discovered a gap in the US market for authentic international cuisine and began their venture using their Syrian grandmother’s hummus recipe.

The company has a dual mission: to meet consumer demand for home-cooked global dishes and to provide employment for refugees, who are hired as chefs to share their homeland’s recipes.

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Mai Khôi is a Vietnamese singer, composer, and activist known for her work at the intersection of art and activism. She rose to fame as a pop star, winning Vietnam’s Television Song and Album of the Year awards in 2010. Over time, she became a vocal critic of government censorship, culminating in a pro-democracy campaign for the National Assembly and a meeting with Barack Obama. This activism came at a high cost, leading to her exile in the U.S.

In exile, Khôi has continued her artistic and activist work through projects like her genre-splicing trio, Mai Khôi Chém Gió, and her current project, Mai Khôi and the Dissidents. She has also been an artist in residence and was awarded the 2018 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent and the 2022 Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech.

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Carin Kuoni is the Senior Director and Chief Curator of the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School and an Assistant Professor of Visual Studies. Her work explores how contemporary art reflects and informs social, political, and cultural conditions.

A founding member of the artists’ collective REPOhistory, Kuoni previously directed exhibitions at Independent Curators International (ICI) and the Swiss Institute. She has curated numerous transdisciplinary exhibitions on diverse issues like democracy, social networks, and Native American identity. Kuoni is also the editor or co-editor of several anthologies, including Speculation, Now and Entry Points. In recognition of her work, she received a 2014 Andy Warhol Foundation Curatorial Fellowship.

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Barbara Lanciers is the Director of the Trust for Mutual Understanding (TMU), a private American foundation that funds professional exchanges in the arts and environment conducted in partnership with institutions and individuals in Central, East, and Southeast Europe; the Baltic States; Central Asia; Mongolia; and Russia. 

Barbara was a Fulbright Scholar with the Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute. She has written independent articles on American performance for Szinhaz Hungarian theater magazine and Didaskalia Polish theater magazine. She is the director and co-creator of Kaddish, a staging of Hungarian Nobel Prize-winning author Imre Kertész’s novel Kaddish for an Unborn Child. 

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Elizabeth Larison is Director of the Arts and Culture Advocacy Program at the National Coalition Against Censorship, a member of Don’t Delete Art, and a writer and curator. Prior to joining NCAC, Elizabeth earned a BA in Human Rights and a MA in Curatorial Studies, and worked for organizations including Flux Factory, the Park Avenue Armory, and apexart. Elizabeth’s writing has been published in The Art Newspaper, Full Bleed, and Art21.

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Achiro Patricia Olwoch is an award-winning writer, director, and producer from Gulu in Northern Uganda, currently living in exile in New York. She is a Visiting Scholar and Instructor at Vassar College, teaching playwriting and postcolonial drama. A former Weiss International Fellow and Scholar at Risk at Barnard College (2023-2024), Achiro has received numerous accolades for her groundbreaking work, including the TV series Coffee Shop and Yat Madit, and acclaimed short films like The Surrogate.

Her creative work bridges history and contemporary struggle. She recently completed three manuscripts left unfinished by her late father and is now working on a memoir about her life from exile to war and a novel about a former child soldier navigating Uganda’s anti-homosexuality law. Her writing has appeared in Guernica, Pen America, and Adi Magazine. Her play, The Survival, premiered at Lincoln Center (2022) and returned for a full production at the Perelman Performing Arts Center (2024). She serves as the African Representative on the Women Playwrights International Management Committee and is a member of the National Queer Theatre’s Artistic Collective.

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Ravi Ragbir is an immigrant rights activist and the Executive Director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York. He works directly with those facing deportation, empowering them through advocacy and accompaniment. As an organizer, he trains advocates, creates sanctuary spaces, and runs “Know Your Rights” forums to help communities navigate the immigration system.

He has developed a clinic to assist immigrants without lawyers and coordinates a large accompaniment program, ensuring people are not alone when checking in with immigration agents. Ravi’s work is deeply personal, as he is also fighting his own deportation. He has testified before the New York City Council and provides crucial information to city and state agencies, all while fighting to remain in the U.S. with his family and supporters.

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Diana Rakhmanova is an artist, curator, art manager, researcher, and journalist. She is the founder of PF Cultural Center “Kuduk” in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Diana curates educational projects on eco-art, data-art and art management in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. She also creates installations, discussions and cooking-together happenings considering food as an art language of cultural exchange. Most of Diana’s work is autobiographical based on memories, search for herself, internal reflections, and the history of Tajikistan. Her work was exhibited in Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and USA and included as part of the DAVRA collective at Documenta fifteen. She participated in art residencies in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Colombia.

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Nisha Sajnani is a distinguished professor, researcher, and a leading advocate for the role of arts in health and social well-being. She is the Director of the Drama Therapy Program and Theatre & Health Lab at NYU and a founder of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Her work focuses on how creative expression can inspire equity and collective flourishing, particularly for individuals and communities affected by trauma and displacement. She has co-authored and edited several books on drama therapy and art as a health resource, including a global series for The Lancet. An award-winning professional, Dr. Sajnani’s efforts have been recognized with numerous accolades for her contributions to research, education, and diversity in the field of drama therapy.

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Rachel Switlick is the current Artist Liaison & Advocate for SHIM: NYC. She holds her MA in Performance & Culture from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Her graduate work culminated in an examination of the impact of US Immigration policies and procedures on the creative culture of New York City. Her undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University (BA in English and BFA in Dance) were focused on interdisciplinary collaboration and a study of methods of communication amongst artists. Before joining the SHIM: NYC team, Rachel worked in theatre production for various performances, including Insight International’s tour of Uniform Justice and the TÉA Creative and Private Theatre’s co-production of Rocco, Chelsea, Adriana, Sean, Claudia, Gianna, Alex. As an advocate for social justice encouraged by the belief that artistic freedom is essential to a fair and just society, Rachel focuses her efforts on finding ways to support artists of all backgrounds. Outside of this work, Rachel currently spends her time empowering others as a Krav Maga instructor and debate coach.

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Julie Trébault is the Founder and Executive Director of ARC – Artists at Risk Connection, a global organization dedicated to safeguarding artistic freedom and supporting artists and cultural workers under threat.
Under her leadership, ARC has provided critical resources and support to over 2,100 artists in more than 60 countries who are facing persecution from state and non-state actors, empowering them to overcome challenges to their creative expression.

Before establishing ARC, Trébault held prominent roles in the art world, including Director of Public Programs and Traveling Exhibitions at the Museum of the City of New York and the Center for Architecture in New York City. She also contributed her expertise internationally, working at the National Museum of World Cultures in the Netherlands and serving as Head of Higher Education and Academic Events at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. Trébault holds dual master’s degrees: a Master’s in Arts Administration from Sorbonne University and a Master’s in Archaeology from the University of Strasbourg.

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Ashley Tucker is the Co-Executive Director of the Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI), where she leads the planning and implementation of programs and legal services for at-risk artists. With a career dedicated to international human rights and social justice, Ms. Tucker brings extensive experience from her work with organizations such as the United Nations Human Rights Committee and PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection. She has a unique background that combines art and law, holding a BA in Studio Art and a JD from CUNY School of Law. Ms. Tucker has worked on strategic litigation and conducted human rights trainings abroad, using her dual expertise to advocate for creative freedom.

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Mia Yoo is the the artistic director of La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, in New York’s East Village. LaMaMa was founded in 1961 by the New York theater legend Ellen Stewart. After Ellen passed away in 2011, Mia Yoo became her successor.

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