The Project Atol Institute, in cooperation with the Slovenian Theater Institute, recently organized a symposium entitled Migrations - Refugees - The Avant-garde of the 21st Century. The event discussed the refugee crisis and the social reactions to it. An emphasis was put on the role of theater in times of social crises.

A very deep reflection is needed
Marko Peljhan, one of the organizers of the symposium, told us: "The happenings in our society are such that they require a very deep reflection. We live in times dealing with many issues connected to migration and refugees. And of course we ourselves, with the erection of the border fence, have at least symbolically also become prisoners and refugees in our own environment."

Theater as a mirror of society
Theater is always supposed to reflect social events and be critical towards them. Theater critic Zala Dobovšek, who moderated the discussion, reminded those present of an example of an active theater in 1990s, the so-called Theater of Refugees:
"The Theater of Refugees, guided at that time under the mentorship of Draga Potočnjak, counted around 10 young people who arrived in Slovenia with their families i.e. mothers, as their fathers had to remain and fight in Bosnia. Theater was a great therapy for them, a dialogue through which they freed themselves from personal distress and problems. Art can mean a lot to a human in distress, and theater even more so as it is more primal and personal. At a psychological level it surely brings momentary redemption, which of course is not eternal, but it can restore trust and faith in humanity itself."