About Us

IARA is a collective of arts and human rights experts.

We provide consultation services and access to our global and local networks. We work to protect freedom of artistic expression, and broader arts and cultural rights.

We have experience working in different territories across the world, as well as for global organisations such as United Nations, UNESCO, and OSCE. We offer services both as individual consultants and as a group. Where specific geographic and cultural knowledge is required, we can connect you to regional and local specialists.

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Laurence Cuny

Laurence Cuny is a human rights lawyer with 20 years experience working with human rights defenders, in the field of cultural rights and artistic freedom. She has been an independent consultant since 2006 providing training, strategy setting, monitoring and evaluation services to the UN Human Rights Office (2013 Report on artistic freedom, 2014 Report on…

Mary Ann DeVlieg

Mary Ann DeVlieg Mary Ann DeVlieg is an independent consultant, and a PhD candidate (2019-2022) critiquing the gap between policy and practice in both arts and migration policies, as well as rights of artists impacted by displacement. Her thesis examines a decade of working with artists impacted by displacement when relocated to safety in Western Europe,…

Julia Farrington

Julia Farrington is a freelance arts producer and consultant, and an Associate Impact Producer in documentary film with Doc Society. Since 2005, she specialised in artistic freedom, working at the intersection between arts, politics and social justice and more recently has taken these interests into the field of documentary film. She was Head of Arts…

Svetlana Mintcheva

Svetlana Mintcheva is a writer, academic and free speech controversies consultant. She is based in Europe (Bulgaria and Greece) and works internationally. Before becoming a freelance consultant, she was a long time staff member and director of programs at the National Coalition Against Censorship, an alliance of U.S. national organizations protecting freedom of speech. She…

Sara Whyatt

Sara Whyatt is a campaigner and researcher on freedom of artistic expression and human rights. She is a member of the Expert Facility to UNESCO’s 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, and expert for Columbia University Global Freedom of Expression. Her experience was gained through leading PEN International’s global…

About Us

IARA is a collective of arts and human rights experts.

MEET THE TEAM

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