Re-Making a Home: A theatre workshop in Softex Refugee Camp, Thessaloniki, Greece

Finding A Home. A play after a “theatre-in-action” workshop between refugees, cultural practitioners and researchers in Thessaloniki in 2017.

Together with Greek and Swedish theatre practitioners and researchers, The Situated Ecologies Platform has been involved in constructing a theatre workshop in the Softex Camp in Thessaloniki in Greece for 10 days. Working with Syrian refugees living at Softex, a co-constructed “theatre in action” will be performed in the Vassiliko Theatre on May 29, 2017 in Thessaloniki as a result of this workshop.

The project is hopefully the start of a longer research-cum-cultural project to make visible, expand and understand the role that cultural practitioners across many European cities are doing and can do in their meetings with refugees to break social stereotyping and learn about our current political moment. The research aims to undermine the stereotyping of refugees that mainstream media is often providing and which seems to fuel anti-immigrant and far-right sympathies across Europe. What does a meeting beyond racism, but also beyond compassion mean? How and what is a meeting of equals in Europe today? The workshop explores the human and cultural capacities we all carry to respond in communal and solidaric ways across cities of Europe to what is described as a “crisis”.

Message from Thessaloniki:

Με μεγάλη χαρά σας στέλνω τη συνημμένη πρόσκληση για να παρακολουθήσετε την παρασταση του θεατρικού έργου: «Φτιαχνοντας σπιτικα μεταξυ συμπονιας και μισους. Οι νεοι προσφυγες παραδιδουν μαθηματα πολιτισμου και αντοχης στην «πρωτευουσα των προσφυγων»»

Ελπιζουμε να σας δουμε στο ΚΘΒΕ Βασιλικο Θεατρο (πλατεια Λευκου Πυργου) τη Δευτερα 29 Μαιου στις 19¨30 (ωρα εναρξης της παραστασης )
εκ μερους των συγγραφεων/ηθοποιων του θεατρικου εργου
εκ μερους της επιστημονικης και καλλιτεχνικης ομαδας

And in English:

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to attend the staging of the theatre play titled: “Finding Home Beyond Compassion and Racism: The New Refugees Offer Lessons of Civilisation and Resilience to the “Capital of Refugees”
Monday 29th May, Vassiliko Theatre, National Theatre of Northern Greece, Thessaloniki (White Tower Square)
On behalf of the authors-actors of the play. On behalf of the artists and research team.

Those behind the Re-Making A Home project in Thessaloniki are: the cultural practitioners Kent Ekberg (director) and Kajsa Nordin (producer) who are both at Theater Reflex in Stockholm; Hans Busstra (Documentary filmmaker); Mousa Elias (Composer & Oud player); and Raida Ibrahim (Interpreter); and the academics María Kaíka (Professor, University of Amsterdam) and Henrik Ernstson (Research Fellow, KTH Royal Institute of Technology/University of Cape Town). The project is supported by The Situated Ecologies Platform (MOVE, PI: Henrik Ernstson) and has received crowd-funding and proudly contributes to the un-disciplining work of the KTH Environmental Humanities Lab.

The original Greek version of the poster for “Finding A Home,” a play after a “theatre-in-action” workshop between refugees, cultural practitioners and researchers in Thessaloniki in 2017.