As part of the project Port of Dreamers, the Slovene National Theatre Maribor, one of the project partners, organised the first Artistic Lab with the theme of migrations, held from 3 to 8 March.
The current situation with migrants in Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia was analysed in panels, workshops and lectures. The reactions of society were discussed, as well as the potential appeal of certain countries as desired destinations as opposed to those seen exclusively as transit routes.
The Artistic Lab was preceded with workshops that lasted several weeks, in which artists and experts enabled migrants to convey their experiences and emotions in the process of integration and socialisation through artistic tools.
Two additional workshops with migrants were held as part of the Artistic Lab, in which integration of migrants in Slovenia, language and social acceptance were discussed, while individual experiences were shared through games, movement and improvisation.
Workshop results will serve as inspiration for artists Ivor Martinić (Slovene National Theatre Maribor), Uroš Mladenović (Kulturanova) and Ivan Penović (Dubrovnik Summer Festival) in creating two theatre projects which will be finalised and presented toward the end of the project at the 71st Dubrovnik Summer Festival.
Port of Dreamers is a two-year international cultural and artistic project co-funded by the EU Creative Europe Programme – Culture Sub-programme, with the theme of history of migrations on the European continent. The project explores the experience of being a migrant, the positive impact of migrations on the development of cultural, social and economic environments and the relationship between the terms and concepts of ‘a citizen of Europe’ and ‘a migrant’.
The total value of the project is approximately 316,000 EUR, 60% of which is co-funded by the European Commission. The project is also supported by the Croatian Ministry of Culture.
