About the Global Forum on Freedom of Expression
The Forum is a one time gathering that will last one week, – June1 to 6, 2009 – and consisting of organizational meetings, open conference sessions and keynote lectures, training workshops and festival events
The Global Forum will begin with 2 days of membership meetings; the global IFEX network, the International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, the International Human Rights House Network and the International Peace Journalism Research Network will all be in Oslo for their annual meetings during Monday June 1st and Tuesday June 2nd, with a focus on free expression. Wednesday the 3rd to Friday the 5th of June will bring these groups together with a host of grass roots activists, media professionals, donors and academics for open conference, training and networking sessions.
Conference sessions will aim to join free expression’s theory and practice in an exploration of assumptions surrounding this fundamental right, and a critical engagement with the most pressing challenges posed by today’s global realities. Keynote lectures by leading thinkers in the field will be delivered at the end of each day, in order to facilitate participation by the Norwegian public. Training workshops will run continuously throughout conference days and will deliver applied skills training to small groups in various languages. Networking sessions will also be organized throughout the Forum, to facilitate essential alliance building and coordination for actors across geographic and professional borders. Throughout the week, the Forum will highlight the convergence of free and artistic expression through a series of exhibitions and performances. Theatre, concerts, photography and literature will bring art and politics together in a public space of free expression from Oslo’s waterfront, to the city centre to the Castle Park.
1st – 6th June 2009, at the House of Literature in Oslo, Norway
The Global Forum is a week-long event consisting of membership meetings, open conference sessions and festival events, all dedicated to exploring and celebrating free expression. Building on the gatherings of international free expression and human rights networks, the forum will bring together activists, writers, artists, academics and thinkers for trainings, keynote lectures, seminars, networking sessions and exhibitions…
Who: Activists, writers, artists, filmmakers, academics, thinkers, lawyers, researchers, musicians and journalists, interacting with global networks and the some of the worlds most active organisations on free expression and human rights.
What: Membership meetings, seminars, concerts, training sessions, exhibitions, keynote lectures, networking and ceremonies.
A partner initiative, based on the IFEX business sessions, and hosted by Norwegian Pen and the Freedom of Expression Foundation, Oslo.
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A unique and cross-cutting partnership:
Forum participants will convene from across a diversity of sectors, regions and professions, creating a unique opportunity to dialogue and build networks across a variety of levels. This is also true of our partner institutions, ranging from NGO’s and publications, to academic institutions and libraries, to theatres and museums. You can read more about our partners here. You may also register to participate, or send us an email if your organization would like to be get involved as a partner.
Program committee:
Anne Game, Executive Director, International Freedom of Expression Exchange, Toronto
Elisabeth Eide, Vicepresident of Norwegian PEN, writer and academic, Oslo
Rohan Jayasekera, journalist and Associate Editor of Index on Censorship, London
Carl Morten Iversen, Secretary General, Norwegian PEN, Oslo
Norwegian hosting committee:
Bente Roalsvig, Project Director, The Freedom of Expression Foundation, Oslo
Erik Rudeng, Director, The Freedom of Expression Foundation, Oslo
Elisabeth Eide, Vicepresident of Norwegian PEN, writer and academic, Oslo
Carl Morten Iversen, Secretary General, Norwegian PEN, Oslo
Project Manager:
Christopher Wilson
Primary hosting organisation:
Norwegian PEN
