Lisbon/Portugal
3-6 November 2022
CARE
This edition of the ETC International Theatre Conference was influenced by feminist thinkers such as bell hooks and Audre Lorde, exploring the ethics of care by looking at the relation of art practices and policies to personal decisions and responsibilities.
In a deep dive panel discussion, attendees were invited to consider...what does it mean for theatre to care for people living through war in Ukraine? To care for artists’ healthcare and wellbeing as they become parents or lose their jobs? For the environment? What does the way we choose to respond to social challenges say about us, as individuals, and the places we work?
Press release
9 November 2022
European theatres must rethink how they interact with staff, local communities and the environment in order to ensure society remains united, theatre professionals have been told.
Leading directors across the continent gathered at the European Theatre Convention (ETC) International Theatre Conference in Lisbon to hear how care is essential in theatres and productions to help face global challenges of inequality and insecurity.
They also discussed the importance of 'slowing down', and ensuring care is present in laws and regulations for artist working conditions that support everyone - in all their diversity - to fulfil their creative visions.
"The theatre can be a flood," said Alexander Zeldin, the writer and director who delivered the keynote artistic address at the conference. "Its waters seep into cracks unseen in our world, it irrigates life by giving us a chance to see it afresh. The flood is what allows us to go with new eyes across borders and boundaries that are set up by shame, politics, history, and economics."
