Songs of Solidarity: An Epic Begins

Join us in the rehearsal room as we craft a new epic - an origin story that celebrates and redefines the migration experience. 

Songs of Solidarity (the current working title for Dash Arts and Projekt Europa’s new project) brings together artists, researchers, and refugees to co-create a powerful music-theatre performance.

In this episode we look at what makes epics, epic. We explore ancient epics like Kalevala, Gilgamesh, and the Odyssey with academics and then, with migrant artists, asylum seekers and refugees, investigate how we can create new ones rooted in solidarity, displacement, and friendship across time.

You can see more in our short film and there’s more to come throughout 2025. 

In this episode we hear from:

Josephine Burton - Artistic Director of Dash Arts

Professor Fiona Macintosh - Emeritus Professor of Classical Reception, University of Oxford

Maria Aberg - Artistic Director of PROJEKT EUROPA

Marouf Majidi - composer and musician

Sabrina Mahfouz - writer and poet  

Luca Macchi - actor and musician 

Namvula Rennie - actor and musician

Chen Xu - actor and musician 

Natalia Kakarkina - actor and musician

Surya Chandra - actor and musician

Songs of Solidarity is a PROJEKT EUROPA and Dash Arts co-production. This first phase of R&D was co-produced with the Cultural Programme at Oxford University, in partnership with the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama at Oxford University, Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland, and Asylum Welcome. We're particularly grateful to Fiona Macintosh for her support and encouragement.

Our gratitude goes to all the wonderful international artists, academics and participants who enriched our project.

Find out more at:

www.projekteuropa.org

www.dasharts.org.uk