Loesje
Loesje /ˈluʃə/ is an international free speech organisation started in Arnhem (Netherlands) in 1983 and went international in 1989.[1] Its charter is to spread creativity, positive criticism, ideas, philosophical ponderings and thoughts on current events by way of short slogans on posters. The posters are signed by Loesje, which is a Dutch female name, representing "a world wide collective of people who want to make the world a more positive creative place".[2]
Loesje is currently to some extent active in over 30 countries, including Argentina, Armenia, Bosnia, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States of America, and Palestine. In one country it is possible to have several more or less active writing groups.
It is not clear how many active writers there are and also the number of people who decide to spread the posters that can be downloaded from the poster archive.[3] The organisation cannot hold track of who spreads posters and where, partly because it is impossible to see how often a poster is downloaded (or printed at home) from the website, and partly because Loesje is not responsible for any misdeeds of individuals who paste posters on illegal places where it is illegal.[4]
Between 2005 and 2013, Loesje's international headquarters were located in Berlin, but since then Loesje International has moved back to Arnhem.[5] From there Loesje implements and coordinates many diverse international projects around the world. Loesje gives creative writing workshops, for team building for example and joins conferences about issues that connect to her values, such as this environmental conference called Caretakers of the environment international in 2012 in Maastricht in the Netherlands. Loesje is especially active on World press freedom day.
External links
Links to websites of specific countries
- Loesje Palestine
- Loesje in Belgium
- Loesje in Estonia
- Loesje in Finland
- Loesje in France
- Loesje in Germany
- Loesje in Greece
- Loesje in Ireland
- Loesje in Italy
- Loesje in Latvia
- Loesje in Lithuania
- Loesje in the Netherlands
- Loesje in Poland
- Loesje in Portugal
- Loesje in Russia
- Loesje in Serbia
- Loesje in Slovenia
- Loesje in Sweden
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