Re:writing the future – The ICORN GENERAL ASSEMBLY, Berlin 2020

Registration is now open - we look forward to welcoming you in Berlin. Find participant and registration information in the right column.  

ICORN’s 10th general assembly will take place in the City of Berlin - 30 years after “die Wende”, the fall of the wall, the reunification of east and west, a time of hope and belief in a common future of freedom and democracy. On the axis from Brandenburger Tor via Unter den Linden to Berlin Alexanderplatz, we offer a rich programme of workshops, debates, readings, exhibitions, film screenings and much more. The programme reflects Berlin's history of division, migration and refuge, as well as its current position as a welcoming community for artists and newcomers.

Re:writing the future is the title of this year’s General Assembly. It points to a widely perceived need for change in the projected course of events in the world today. It suggests the creative and disruptive power that change makers can mobilize, and that we all play an active part in shaping our common future.

300 writers, journalists, artists, human rights defenders, city coordinators, political representatives, civil society organisations, partners and observers gather in Berlin to reframe and rewrite our shared future. We will discuss the conditions of freedom of expression today and explore best practices in protection and promotion of writers and artists at risk. Together we will reimagine and rewrite a future where artists, writers and journalists can work freely and independently, wherever they want, without fear and persecution. 

Alongside distinguished ICORN writers and artists on the programme, we welcome a wide range of writers, artists and experts from Berlin and around the world, among them Nobel Prize-winning author Herta Müller. Müller will share her experiences of exile, displacement and the loss of home that we know from her outstanding work. More updates will follow about confirmed speakers and performers in the weeks and months to come.

The partners

We are delighted to have highly esteemed and professional partners including the Allianz Cultural Foundation (AKS), the Berlin Senate Department of Culture and Europe, the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme as well as a wide range of local cultural partners for the organization of this event.

The Berlin Senate Department of Culture and Europe brought Berlin into ICORN in May 2018 and vouches for Berlin’s role as an international and cosmopolitan city. The Senate sets new priorities for the cultural landscape of Berlin and aims to enable cultural participation as a basis for social participation.

Allianz Cultural Foundation (AKS) promotes the exchange and encounters in Europe and the Mediterranean area in the fields of educational work, contemporary visual and performing arts, literature and music and cooperates with international partner organizations and institutions in the planning and development of new initiatives.

The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme is one of the most renowned international programmes offering grants to artists in the fields of visual arts, literature, music and film. It is a forum of artistic dialogue which extends beyond cultural, geographical and, beyond political borders, and is the managing partner of the ICORN programme in Berlin.