Free International University (FIU)
Ensemble
In 1974, Joseph Beuys and writer Heinrich Böll founded the Freie Internationale Hochschule für Kreativität und Interdisziplinäre Forschung (Free International University of Creativity and Interdisciplinary Research), which was later simplified to Free International University. As a school that operated outside the academic world and that allowed access to all students, the FIU was partly a reaction to Beuys' dismissal in 1972 from the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts. At the same time, the FIU was a place to reflect on society originating from Beuys' idea of direct democracy The aim of the FIU was to help realise the creative potential of all people, to formulate a concept of individual freedom and to give form to social processes.I In the 1980sdepartments of the FIU were established in Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg and Munich, but also in Amsterdam, Antwerp and Japan.
In 1980, the first subsidiary of Beuys (FIU) outside Germany was founded in Antwerp.for four years, artists and other people inspired by Beuys had conversations about ecology, art and politics. In addition, the FIU Antwerp also wanted to spread ideas by issuing some postcards and a Dutch translation of Beuys Aufruf zur Alternative (Appeal for an Alternative). In this way – and with participants like Anny De Decker, Luc Deleu, Ludo De Schutter, Danny De Vos, Bernd Lohaus, Guy Rombouts, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven and Narcisse Tordoir – Beuys's ideas were continued.
