ICORN voices at the World Expression Forum and the Young Experts Seminar
Writers, artists, journalists, and current and former ICORN residents attended the World Expression Forum (WEXFO) in Lillehammer and WEXFO Young Experts Seminar on the island of Utøya between 20th and 23rd of May 2023.
Shoaib Durrazai, Atefe Asadi, Hayat Al-Sharif, Khalid Albaih, Jannatun Nayeem Prity, LAZA, and Fatemeh Ekhtesari joined more than 300 participants from over 50 countries to discuss the status of freedom of expression and the challenges to it globally. WEFXO’s programme included workshops, panel discussions, and talks on a variety of topics, including self-censorship, digitalisation, and specific focus on Iran, Myanmar, Syria, and Ukraine.
In addition to WEXFO in Lillehammer, this year saw the first edition of the WEXFO Young Experts Seminar on Utøya, an island which has long played an important role in Norway’s political education and development. Since the terrorist attack on 22nd of July 2011, it has been rebuilt to continue promoting values of equality, tolerance, and diversity. This is where more than 60 young human rights activists, civil society leaders, journalists, and other young experts met for the WEXFO Young Experts Seminar on freedom of expression.
Over two days, the WEXFO Young Experts Seminar provided an opportunity for the participants to share their thoughts, opinions, and practices with regards to free expression, young people’s role in it, and the obstacles they face. The Seminar sessions explored a range of themes connected to freedom of expression, such as artistic and political freedom, disinformation, and intergenerational dialogue. The young experts also found out more about Utøya’s history and its vital role in fostering solidarity, understanding, and peace. Reflecting on his experiences at the WEXFO Young Experts Seminar, journalist, human rights activist, and current ICORN resident in Bergen, Shoaib Durrazai said:
‘Utøya was home to a tragedy, but I appreciate the organisation for not giving up. This place provides a boost to young talents.’
Street artist LAZA, writer and translator Atefe Asadi, and photographer and photojournalist Hayat Al-Sharif took part in a panel discussion on the topic of ‘Artistic Freedom’, organised in cooperation with Arts and Culture Norway. Sharing perspectives from their different fields of work in the context of their home countries, Yemen and Iran, Al-Sharif, Asadi, and LAZA delved into the meaning of artistic freedom and its power in driving change. Commenting on the panel discussion and the Seminar as a whole, Hayat Al-Sharif said:
‘By being invited to WEXFO I was united to defenders of freedom of expression in a strong and active global community and it felt like I get the power, freedom, and safety to express myself, in a project that aim to increase young people’s participation in democracy through the sharing of knowledge about challenges and solutions.’
The rapid development of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) and their impact on freedom of expression was also a central topic of discussion at both WEXFO events. During the Young Experts Seminar, Jannatun Nayeem Prity took part in a session on ‘Digital Disinformation’, highlighting the ways in which ‘authoritarian regimes use technology to suppress their populations’. Prity focused on the situation in her home country of Bangladesh and social media disinformation campaigns she has experienced throughout her career as writer, artist, and activist. In Lillehammer, Atefe Asadi shared her thoughts on the role of AI in both impeding and fostering free expression and how this should be navigated in the future. Asadi shared:
‘As an Iranian writer, I talked about the fact that, for me, the definition of freedom of expression is to be able to remove the barrier of self-censorship that living under the shadow of the Islamic Republic has created in my mind. Sometimes I think that if I were AI, I would never have this obstacle in my mind, and it would be easier for me to write. But on the other hand, one cannot write without having real lived experience, no matter how bitter these experiences are. And I think this is the point where artificial intelligence and humans as writers separate.'
On the first day of WEXFO in Lillehammer, Fatemeh Ekhtesari was part of a panel discussion dedicated to the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement in Iran. Alongside other prominent Iranian-Norwegian public figures, Ekhtesari discussed the aftermath of the protests after the murder of Mahsa Amini and their significance for freedom of expression in Iran and beyond.
The second day of WEXFO saw political cartoonist and civil rights activist Khalid Albaih and ICORN’s Executive Director Helge Lunde join a workshop entitled 'Freedom of expression and the protection of artistic Rights: Are we doing enough?'. Offering perspectives from both cultural practitioners and organisational leaders, the workshop explored the possibilities in ‘carving a space for artistic freedoms’ in today’s world.
Taking place annually in Lillehammer, an ICORN City of Refuge and a UNESCO City of Literature, WEXFO will return in 2024 with a comprehensive programme aimed at advancing freedom of expression.
