A beacon of literature, culture, and free expression: Prague becomes an ICORN City of Refuge
On 12 March 2024, Prague became the newest and 86th ICORN City of Refuge, expanding the network to include the Czech Republic.
Building on a rich history of resistance, championing freedom of expression, and a strong literary tradition, Prague committed to protecting and promoting freedom of expression, democracy, and human rights by joining ICORN.
The ICORN Membership Agreement was signed by the Mayor of Prague Bohuslav Svoboda and ICORN’s Executive Director Helge Lunde during a ceremony held in the Mayor’s Residence in Central Prague on 12 March 2024. Among the other attendees were Jiří Sulženko, the Director of the Department of Culture and Tourism in the City of Prague, and Tomáš Řehák, the Director of the Prague Municipal Library.
Prague’s rich literary history and contemporary cultural scene makes the city an environment full of opportunities for incoming writers, artists, and journalists in ICORN residency. The capital of the Czech Republic has become an ICORN member at a time of a growth for the network in the Central European region, joining forces with other major cities such as Warsaw, Bratislava, and Ljubljana.
We wish Prague a warm welcome to the ICORN network and look forward to working together towards improving conditions for freedom of expression worldwide.
