Art musts of the week: 25 - 31 May 2015

The organisation behind the prestigious Fulbright fellowship is launching a new programme to rescue artists from conflict zones. The Artist Protection Fund, a three-year pilot project led by the Institute of International Education and funded with $2.79m from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, offers grants to threatened artists and places them at host universities or art centres in friendlier foreign countries. 

“Threats against just one individual artist can have an immediate chilling effect on entire artistic communities,” Allan Goodman, the president of the Institute of International Education, said at a launch event at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. “Our goal is to build connections and skills that will help the artists to thrive after the fellowship is over and enrich the artistic communities that host them.”While emergency arts grants in the US and Europe offer short-term solutions, the institute identified a “critical unmet need” to provide safe haven to artists on a large scale for extended periods—ideally, until they can return to their home country or permanently re-settle in a more hospitable place. The institute has not provided details on the selection process, the length of fellowships or the amount of money available.