Wasan Meeting

The Breuninger Stiftung provides training support and technical assistance to freeDimensional each summer by hosting the network at its Wasan Island conference facility in Canada.

2010 Retreat

July 11-14, 2010, fD convened leaders of human rights organizations, art space and practice networks, and groups focused on the mobility of culture workers around a theme of ‘creative resistance’ because there are not many occasions for networks at the intersection of arts and social justice to get together and discuss common issues and consider their synergies.

As a result of the retreat, a new collaboration was formed: International Coalition for Arts Human Rights & Social Justice. Get to know the founding members.

2009 Retreat

The 2009 Retreat was a held in July 2009, providing a space for the newest members of the freeDimensional network to reflect on their work, share strategies for sustaining their programs, and develop new partnerships. Building community across the art space sector through knowledge-sharing was a key outcome of the retreat. In the words of Iz Oztat, co-founder of Cura Bodrum Residency in Turkey, “This experience has been very important for us. We are just starting out so I learned so much from the spaces that are here that have been functioning already for a while and the strategies they have been using.” Participants also took away new ideas and tools for resource generation, management, and community outreach from a series of facilitated dialogues and one-on-one consultations with professional trainers.

View Hosting Activism in Art Spaces, a video shot during the retreat.

See a list of participants below in the EASSI section and hear their voices in these videos.

The EASSI retreat was made possible by support from the Breuninger Foundation which hosted participants on their Wasan Island conference facility in Canada. The retreat program received additional support from the Ford Foundation, Cairo, and a re-grant from JP Morgan through the Brooklyn Arts Council. Representatives from Musagetes Foundation and the Swiss Cooperation Office Arts and Culture Program attended portions of the retreat. Video production, post-production, and other documentation services were made possible by the Fledgling Fund.