Hello Breakero,
It’s 10 weeks until Breaking Convention 2023! Tickets are available here.
If you have concerns about the costs associated with attending, see below for a link to Travel Grants from Source Resource Foundation: you might qualify for financial assistance from them.
Enormous thanks to all those who have applied to participate in this year’s conference. The deadline for submissions and other applications to participate has passed, and we now have the joy of hundreds of forms to read through. Each category (presentations, art, volunteering, etc) will be dealt with by the appropriate members of the committee, advised by various specialists as necessary.
We are meeting several times this week to choose the successful talks, so you won’t have long to wait until you hear from us. We are blown away by the quality and range of work submitted, and confidently anticipate that the 2023 conference will be at least as ground-breaking as our previous five conferences.
Other categories—workshops, performance, art, volunteers, etc—will hear back from the relevant decision makers very soon too, thanks for your patience.
Note: The code to book accommodation on campus has been sent out to all ticket holders. If you think you have not received this, please double check your spam folder before contacting us!
Members of the Breaking Convention organising committee visited the University of Exeter again recently, where their events team are proving incredibly welcoming. The venue offers so much, we cannot wait to see the Great Hall and the lecture theatres filled with people eager to hear about all the latest from a broad spectrum of psychedelic engagement: scientific research, current social thinking, cultural history, discussions on ethical and environmental matters, clinical practice, experienced harm reduction experts, policy influencers, and many, many more.
The contributions from the fields of performance, cinema, art, workshop engagement, and digital installations, all offer responses to, and inspiring ways to engage with, psychedelic states of awareness. This aspect of Breaking Convention is integral to our ethos of learning from across multiple disciplines of paradigms and practices, to inform and connect with each other.
The rooms include a dedicated cinema, and a spacious workshop room offering enormous scope for larger and more active sessions than before. We’ll also have plenty of indoor and outside spaces for socialising.
If you are travelling from further afield, it’s worth noting that Exeter has a splendid Norman/Medieval cathedral, and a very interesting museum & art gallery which in April hosts Witches of the Anthropocene; an exhibition exploring otherworldly connections to nature. The city also has independent shops and restaurants galore!
With warmest wishes,
Nikki
On behalf of the Breaking Convention Team
Important: Travel Grants!
We’ve featured the work of Source Research Foundation (SRF) in previous newsletters. This month, we are very pleased to announce they are offering Travel Grants for a number of psychedelic conferences this year… including Breaking Convention 2023!
This program is intended for students and other underrepresented individuals interested in attending psychedelic conferences. Eligible applicants will fit into at least one of the following categories:
Students presenting their work at the conference
Students studying psychedelics in their degree program
People of the global majority working in the field of psychedelics
People working in drug policy, harm reduction, or advocacy within the larger psychedelic space
Applications open on February 1st and close on February 24th. Applicants will be given notice by March 20th.
Awards must be used for direct costs associated with travel to the conference applied for. Direct costs can include flights, lodging, and conference registration. Funds must be used for the conference applied for. Awards are distributed on a reimbursement basis.
To apply, and for more information:
https://www.sourceresearchfoundation.org/2023-travel-grant-program
Huge thanks to all the donors to SRF, who make this grant program possible. If you would like to contribute to their funds, click here.
Rescheduling news from Australia
From 1 July this year, medicines containing the psychedelic substances psilocybin and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) can be prescribed by specifically authorised psychiatrists for the treatment of certain mental health conditions.
Survey
Psychedelic transformations can take many directions:
We want to make sure we include perspectives of those that have dealt with persisting challenges too.
If that's you, or someone you know, please come forward and/or share to help others in the future: https://bit.ly/transformexe
**Please use a laptop or other big screen to complete this survey**
The study aims to look at different outcomes of psychedelic transformations, and is run by a team of researchers from Exeter University’s Psychedelics & Psychopharmacology Lab.
They are looking for people with positive/negative/mixed transformative outcomes following the use of psychedelic substances.
Bicycle Day and other Psychedelic Essays
What are the roots of psychedelic culture? Why are psychedelics seen as transgressive? How was Albert Hofmann’s discovery of LSD’s effects entwined with a world at war? In Bicycle Day and other Psychedelic Essays, Alan Piper explores the often forgotten or ignored early histories of psychoactive drugs that helped shape psychedelia. Pre-order your copy here.