The International Cities of Refuge Network is an association of cities and regions around the world dedicated to the value of Freedom of Expression.
Protection
ICORN Cities offer persecuted writers a safe haven where they can live and work without fear of being censored or silenced.
Promotion
ICORN supports the artistic endeavours of its guest writers and promotes new spaces for intercultural dialogues worldwide.
ICORN encouraged and empowered forward after successful Stockholm assembly
May 2012 Saved to Events, Festivals and Opportunities
The second ICORN General Assembly as an independent, international organisation is history. From the official opening in Stockholm City Hall on Wednesday 9 May to the final voting and wishes of farewell Friday afternoon, the assembly radiated with energy from new encounters, moving dialogues and lively debates among more than 100 delegates, guest writers and observers from all over the world.
Delegates from more than 30 ICORN member cities approved reports and accounts for 2010 and 2011, and engaged strongly in the debates on the ICORN strategic plan for 2012 -2014. Intense discussions and exchanges of ideas and experiences also found place among the 25 ICORN guest writers in their separate workshops. All assembly participants contributed to a vibrant and successful Market of Ideas Thursday afternoon, where many suggestions for innovative cooperative projects between cities and guest writers were launched and promoted.
The ICORN Board and the administration centre will use this opportunity to thank all participants for their valuable contributions to making it such a successful event. Our deepest thanks goes to our Stockholm hosts at Kulturhuset, who treated us with such utmost professionality and hospitality.
World Premiere of Marion Stalens' 'Silence or Exile' during ICORN Assembly in Stockholm
May 2012 Saved to Events, Festivals and Opportunities
'Five writers, who had to escape their countries because they were threatened, tell us about a violent, absurd, and unjust world and share their intimate perceptions of writing and exile. These men and women, forced to depart in search of freedom of speech, embody the power of literature and the spirit of resistance today.'
ICORN and Shahrazad-stories for life are proud to present the world premiere of filmmaker Marion Stalens' latest work, 'Silence or Exile,' at the Skandia biografen on 10 May 2012 as part of the ICORN General Assembly series of events in Stockholm. Four out of the five writers profiled in the documentary have strong ties to the ICORN network and two of the artists, Philo Ikonya and Mana Neyestani, are current guest writers in Oslo and Paris, respectively. The other writers include Horacio Castellanos Moya (El Salvador/Iowa City), Svetlana Alexievitch (Belarus/Stockholm), and Ma Jian (China/London).
ICORN Goes to Stockholm
May 2012 Saved to Events, Festivals and Opportunities
More than 100 delegates, guest writers and observers from as many as 32 different countries are heading to Stockholm Wednesday 9-Friday 11 May, to take part in the 2012 ICORN General Assembly. Established as an independent, international organisation since 2010, more than 30 ICORN member cities from all over Europe and beyond will be represented when it all breaks loose at Kulturhuset in Stockholm.
In addition to the ordinary assembly procedures, the assembly participants will engage in vital issues to help determine the future of the young and growing ICORN network. Should ICORN member cities continue hosting writers only, or should our organisation consider offering shelter also to persecuted artists and human rights defenders? During a Market of Ideas all participants are also invited also to discuss and share experiences under various topics including “The art of hosting”, “Promotion”, “Working with PEN International” and “Preparing for the Afterlife”.
Visit Shahrazad!
Welcome to the Shahrazad website, a free space in Europe for writers from all over the world to tell their stories and to be heard.
Six ICORN cities are taking part in the Shahrazad project: Barcelona, Brussels, Frankfurt, Norwich, Stockholm and Stavanger. But writers from every corner of the world are invited to contribute words.
The Shahrazad project will set in motion a transnational dynamic of sharing and exchanging new stories. It will reach out specifically to individuals and groups unfamiliar with traditional literary and cultural activities. It will focus especially on children and young people who, through educational programmes, creative workshops and digital story production, will experience both the receiving and production ends of the Stories for Life chain of communication.
Ultimately, the Shahrazad project aims to provide Europe with new, more open and sustainable narratives about itself. By opening up to human and artistic impulses from ‘outside', Europe can regain and revitalise some of its capital values: freedom, democracy and solidarity.
Shahrazad is a European Union Culture 2007: multi-annual co-operation project
ICORN cities
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