Cultures of Refuge: Climate, Flight, Refuge
- English Language Events
- Konferenz
- Vortrag
- Podiumsdiskussion
- Kulturveranstaltung
Recognizing that the very concept of ‘refuge’ is undergoing a fundamental change, the symposium will investigate modern sanctuary frameworks and the implications of their transformation. By investigating refuge in various contexts and from multidisciplinary perspectives, the symposium asks to what extent ethical and political obligations to provide refuge still hold in an environmentally degraded and increasingly conflictual, authoritarian world.
Along with two days of panels and poster presentations, artist Dana van Rijssen will show sculptures from her collection “What Throws Us Away”, along with artwork created by TU Dortmund University students and Academy in Exile fellows during the “Creating Refuge” seminar. Furthermore, Academy in Exile’s exhibition “What Grew at Home”, curated by Vanessa Agnew, with photography by Jobst von Kunowski, will be shown for the first time, along with the digital project, “Minecraft Garden(s) of Refuge”.
As part of the symposium on Friday, Academy in Exile’s Garden(s) of Refuge will be officially opened with a ceremony. The garden, located on the TU Dortmund University campus, is a mini forest planted with the help of Applied Literary and Cultural Studies students, AiE fellows and team members, and families from the HoKiDo Kindergarten, with the aim of connecting ecological restoration to questions of displacement, belonging, and public space.
Registration is open until 15 September 2026.
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