Vafa Mehraeen is the new ICORN resident in Brussels City of Refuge!
In September 2022, Passa Porta and the City of Brussels welcomed the journalist, human rights activist and scholar Vafa Mehraeen from Iran as the sixth ICORN resident in Belgium’s capital.
Through the international house of literature Passa Porta, the City of Brussels joined ICORN in 2007 and is currently hosting its sixth ICORN resident Vafa Mehareen, a journalist, scholar, and human rights activist from Iran. Due to the nature of his journalistic and academic work, largely focused on LGBTQ+ issues, sexism in school textbooks, and his criticism of the Iranian regime, Vafa was forced to flee his home country and moved to Turkey in 2014.
During his exile in Turkey, Mehareen continued his work and regularly contributed to Radio Zamaneh, an online news provider for the Iranian diaspora. Vafa also became the editor-in-chief of the Iranian Queer Organisation Website (IRQO), publishing information and providing advice to Iranian LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum.
Since arriving in Brussels, Mehareen has continued his interdisciplinary research, currently focusing on assessing and providing material for gender-related topics taught to primary school pupils. Additionally, Vafa is now the editor-in-chief of the research and educational content production for the Zamimeh project, the first social media campaign against sexism in Iranian school textbooks.
The ICORN residencies in Brussels are officially hosted by PassaPorta, with the support of the City of Brussels in providing accommodation to the writers, artists, and journalists in residence. The universities in Brussels are also an important partner. Prior to hosting Vafa Mehareen, Passa Porta has welcomed six other ICORN residents, including Monem Mahjoub, Boris Korkmazov, and Arash Chakeri.
Every two years, the Passa Porta Festival is held in Brussels, celebrating the city’s role as a literature and art hub, and engaging hundreds of writers and artists from around the world, as well as a large public. In March 2023, Passa Porta and the City of Brussels will be the official hosts of the ICORN Network Meeting, taking place during the Passa Porta Festival.
Over several days, up to 300 members of the ICORN network, including current and former ICORN residents, city representatives, sister organisations, and politicians will gather in Brussels. Through performances, meetings, workshops, and discussion, the two events will seek to engage audiences across Brussels, as well as the participants to the ICORN Network Meeting.
For more information, read Brussels’s ICORN City of Refuge profile and Vafa Mehraeen’s ICORN Resident profile.
