From April 20 to 23, Barcelona will be the scene of theGeneral Assembly of the International Network of Refuge Cities (ICORN), coinciding with Sant Jordi’s day and with the celebration of his 20 years of work for the protection of writers, journalists and artists persecuted because of their work or their ideas. The meeting, whose slogan is “Cities in revolt! Freedom, Culture and Refuge”, is organized in cooperation with the PEN Catalan and has the support of Barcelona City Council, represented by the Department of Global Justice and International Cooperation and the Barcelona Institute of Culture, and of the Generalitat de Catalunya, specifically the Department of Culture, through the Institution of Catalan Letters, and the Department of European Union and Foreign Action.
On the occasion of this assembly, the Ramon Llull Institute is organizing a session on April 21 at the Center for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, where most of the activities will take place, on “Catalan writers in exile: loss, displacement and survival”, led by the journalist and writer Miriam Cano and with the interpretation of the actress Paula Jornet. Through literary texts, images and voices, we will reflect on loss and displacement, but also on survival, irony and resilience. Texts by authors such as Teresa Pàmies, Pere Quart (Joan Oliver), Jacint Verdaguer, Joaquim Amat-Piniella and Mercè Rodoreda.
On Wednesday, April 22, also at the CCCB, at 1:00 p.m., the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Islandwill offer a reception to ICORN representatives that will be attended by the Minister of Culture, Sonia Hernandezthe director of the Institute of Catalan Letters (ILC), Eduard Escoffetand the director of the Ramon Llull Institute, Anna Guitart.
PEN Català has coordinated, since 2006, the Hosted Writer Program linked to this network, which for a period of two years hosts a writer threatened, persecuted or at risk of being imprisoned as a result of his writings.
ICORN was created in 2006 in Stavanger (Norway) by thirty representatives of cities of refuge and organizations committed to freedom of expression, with the aim of coordinating and strengthening the reception programs that already existed since the 90s for writers, journalists and artists persecuted because of their work or their ideas. Among these organizations were entities such as PEN Internacional and PEN Català, which were already working on programs to welcome persecuted writers. Cities that are members of the network offer temporary residencies (usually 1-2 years) and provide accommodation and financial support. The network currently includes more than 90 cities around the world and has become a global reference in the defense of freedom of expression and the protection of creators at risk.
