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Art for Human Rights brings together artists of all disciplines from around the world to raise awareness of human rights violations. We use art to inspire action so that freedom, equality and dignity become a reality for all.
Values & Vision
Art for Human Rights – a credo and not a cause.
Art for Human Rights, which began as ‘Art for Amnesty’ in May 2002, was conceived from a belief born of the experience of its founder, barrister and life long human rights activist Bill Shipsey, that the work of artists could have an impactful benefit in promoting universal human rights. And could help human rights organisations amplify their message. It was initially purposed exclusively for Amnesty International but since the change of name in 2022 to ‘Art for Human Rights’ works potentially with all human rights defending and advancing organisations.
The aim of Art for Human Rights was discussed by Bill Shipsey early on with one of our first and pre-eminent artist supporters, the late Nobel Laureate in Literature, Seamus Heaney. In his presentation speech for Vaclav Havel at the inaugural Ambassador of Conscience Award (which Bill Shipsey conceived in 2003 and Art for Amnesty organized thereafter) Seamus Heaney introduced Art for Human Rights to the audience in these terms:
We are here not so much for a cause as for a credo. Art for Amnesty, who sponsor this event, represents a disposition rather than a party line. And the disposition is this: we are disposed to believe that the work of artists helps to create our future. We believe that the effort of creative individuals can promote a new order of understanding in the common mind, an understanding that precedes and prepares for the establishment of new social conditions”
This description, eloquently expressed by Heaney, was gleaned from discussions with Bill Shipsey about Art for Human Rights prior to that first Award Ceremony.
He continued:
Art that is fully alive to reality and fully truthful in its response is, after all, exactly what the Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeyva once called it, namely, ‘art in the light of conscience’.
Art does not issue from a sense of duty. It is one of the rewards of inner and outer freedom, one of the symptoms of a well doing commonwealth. The writer’s quill and the minstrel’s harp are insignia of the liberated spirit and are recognised as such, instinctively. Speaking artistically, speaking conscientiously, the pen is not in the end all that light. It carries its own weight of responsibility; it puts us under pressure, and it asks us to take the strain of standing our ground in the indicative mood of the truth.”
This remains the Art for Human Rights disposition and credo and informs all Art for Human Rights’ projects.
We don’t conduct research or publish reports or document human rights abuses. We rely on the expertise, integrity and competence of the human rights NGO’s and INGO’s we work with to provide the expertise and the messaging around a given human rights cause or issue that we work with artists to promote.
We are a global outward facing project and we work (mostly) with international human rights organisations and (mostly) with artists who command a global stage and who take a principled and informed stance on the leading human rights causes and issues of the day with a view to helping the organisations through the medium of art amplify and magnify their message in the visceral way that art almost alone allows.
Art for Human Rights, helps to spread the message of human rights ‘from the arteries to the capillaries’ to quote Seamus Heaney again. Or, to use a musical analogy, Art for Human Rights amplifies the message of human rights as well as providing a bigger stage for a human rights NGO’s message.
We conceive, promote, publish and produce art that helps and hopefully gives better expression to the importance and centrality of universal human rights. Please join our movement for human rights through the beauty and the universal language of art.
HISTORY
Art for Human Rights was originally created in 2002 as Art for Amnesty by human rights lawyer and life long Amnesty International member Bill Shipsey.
Shipsey, who joined Amnesty International in the late 1970s, was inspired in part by the activism of entertainers, who performed at the Monty-Python-esque Secret Policeman’s Ball benefit show, wanted to bring together artists from all corners of the world to lead projects that would contribute to the organisation’s work.
Shipsey conceived and created the Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2003 for Art for Amnesty, inspired by the poem “From the Republic of Conscience”, written by Irish poet Seamus Heaney for Amnesty International in 1985. The Award has been bestowed on such diverse activists as Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Harry Belafonte, Václav Havel, Joan Baez, Ai Wei Wei, Peter Gabriel, U2 and most recently Greta Thunberg. The award ceremonies were organised, funded and presented by Art for Human Rights (then Art for Amnesty) from 2003 to 2015.
Over the years, Art for Human Rights has led dozens of projects involving artists of all disciplines including musicians, painters, sculptors, and writers. These include Instant Karma, Amnesty’s multi-star, Grammy nominated benefit album of John Lennon compositions; the Small Places Tour, a 2008 music concert project which partnered with over 800 concerts in some 40 countries worldwide, and Electric Burma a concert held on 18 June 2012 in honour of Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi featuring Bono, Damien Rice, Lupe Fiasco, Bob Geldof, Angelique Kidjo, and many others.
In 2012 we began to work with internationally acclaimed Aubusson Tapestry maker, Ateliers Pinton. Since then, they have created 14 monumental tapestries designed by Fernando Botero, Sofía Vari and Peter Sís.
In 2017 we launched Eleanor’s Dream, a one-year artist led project to mark the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and to celebrate the achievement of Eleanor Roosevelt in its creation and adoption. Internationally acclaimed singer songwriter Damien Rice performed a sell-out acoustic concert in the Olympia in Paris on 11 December.
In 2018 we began to work with internationally recognised Azulejo maker Viuva Lamego in Lisbon to produce Azulejo murals, the traditional Portuguese majolica glazed tiles. We partnered with Peter Sis and the City of Lisbon to create a large Azulejo mural to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the UDHR. The 15 square meter mural of Sis’ drawing “Si morg” was unveiled on 10 December 2018, on Human Rights Day, by Katerina Vaz Pinto, the cultural counsellor of the city of Lisbon.
Today, Art for Human Rights is involved in a number of projects, expanding collaborations with artists and human rights organizations across the world.
TEAM
Bill Shipsey is a multifaceted Irish human rights activist, retired barrister, artist event promoter, producer, and consultant. As the founder and Executive Director of Art for Human Rights (formerly Art for Amnesty), he spearheads an organisation that leverages the transformative power of art to champion and safeguard human rights. Shipsey’s commitment to Amnesty International dates back to 1977, and throughout the years, he has been a driving force in advancing human rights causes through artistic expression.
His noteworthy contributions include conceiving and establishing Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience award in 2003. In 2007, he served as the co-executive producer of Instant Karma, a benefit album featuring renditions of John Lennon compositions by renowned artists. Shipsey co-founded Art 19, a company created to raise funds for Amnesty International and human rights through the sale of original prints by the world’s foremost contemporary artists.
Ruby Hegarty Lovett began working as an intern with Art for Human Rights in 2023 but soon demonstrated her abilities and became indispensable.
Raised in a French-based Irish Family of artists she has been immersed in the arts and nurtured a dedication to protecting and advocating for human rights. Ruby recently earned her MSc in Social and Cultural Anthropology from KU Leuven, following a BA in Comparative Literature at University College London.
BOARD
Josefina Salomon is a journalist, editor and researcher.
Over the last two decades, she has lived and travelled extensively across Latin America documenting human rights, organised crime and security issues for research and advocacy work for media outlets and organisations including Amnesty International, InSight Crime, the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime and the Washington Office on Latin America, among others.
More recently, she co-founded In.Visibles, a digital platform amplifying the stories of people caught up between violence at the hands of criminal organisations and government policies that criminalise them. Josefina first started collaborating with Art for Human Rights (then Art for Amnesty) in 2006, when then Chilean President Michelle Bachelet presented Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience award to the Irish band U2. Since then, she helped the organisation advance collaborations with artists from across the world to raise awareness and inspire action for human rights to be a reality for all.
Jenny Bulbulia is a seasoned board member having sat on numerous state boards as an appointee of the Irish Government and the boards of several charities and companies. She was previously a Central Council Member of the Irish Red Cross and its Honorary Secretary.
As a barrister, she worked for over two decades in the area of child law.
Jenny studied psychology in Trinity College Dublin. Her work in psychology involved the promotion of professional wellbeing with an emphasis on professions who may be susceptible to vicarious trauma.
Jenny’s golden place is walking the fields with her dogs and spending time with her daughter and her horses. She also finds great escape in paintings, books and the performing arts.
Stephanie is a brand strategist. Born in Louisiana and raised in Texas, she’s spent her adult life in Europe. She began her working life at Amnesty International’s International Secretariat in London, before moving on to work at some of the world’s best creative agencies. Most recently, she was Executive Strategy Director and Partner at 72andSunny Amsterdam, where she sat on the leadership team for the better part of a decade, helping the agency grow from a 5-person start-up to Agency of the Year. The brains behind the growth & transformation of some of the world’s most innovative & impactful brands, from Google to the Tate Museums, Stephanie now works independently, helping start-ups and scale-ups become brands that last. She is also a published poet.
Barbara Bartoli is a marketing and communications expert, an idealist and a visionary with more than 20 years of experience working across the profit and non for profit sectors.
She helps brands redefine success beyond profit with a view of building a more inclusive and sustainable society with a people-centred approach in Purpose House.
Furthermore, she teaches Green Marketing & Social Communication at the Unint University in Rome to inspire youngsters to cultivate their passions and talents to achieve the kind of impacts that help others and are respectful of the planet.
She joined Art for Human Right (formerly Art for Amnesty) in 2019 as Board Communication Director, to help bring together artists, human rights organizations and the corporate world in the fight for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.
Aside from being one of Art for Human Rights’ newest board directors, Alex Searle is a creative entrepreneur, storyteller, content creator and the art-loving, music-making host of the Art for Human Rights Podcast. His abilities and experience in launching startups and growing businesses has enabled him to contribute greatly to the Art for Human Rights team, and broadcast its important mission to new, larger audiences.
When he’s not hunched over his laptop creating something great, he’s usually playing lego or guitar with one of his little ones, or taking a roadtrip across Spain or Portugal to sample the local art, music, food and culture.