Poverty and victimisation caused by crime and violence are regarded as violations of economic, social and cultural rights and human dignity. The most excluded populations are often recurrent victims of these rights violations. Artists are one of these populations, as they are usually in a situation of structural socio-economic vulnerability. Taking as a study case the city of Acapulco, Mexico, one of the country’s most violent and impoverished localities, we try to respond, how is art being practised in Acapulco, a city with a high poverty rate and a high level of violence? What implications does this have on artistic practice? In turn, how do those who engage in art in Acapulco exercise their rights? To this end, an instrumental qualitative case study focusing on artists’ experiences was designed. By means of a thematic analysis, we identify that in Acapulco artists exercise their economic, social and cultural rights mainly through the market, and in the case of a more constant exercise, the market is associated with a formal employment contract rather than from the state-guaranteed public offer.