Amfiteater Journal of Performing Arts Theory
Academic Symposium

Ecology and Performing Arts

9–10 October 2025

Slovenian Theatre Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Call for Submissions

Climate change, sustainable development and the green transition are buzzwords that have been circulating a lot lately. There is a growing awareness that these issues are not just about the findings of the natural sciences or the search for primarily technological solutions but that the humanities and social sciences should also contribute their perspectives and approaches. New philosophical, social and political paradigms have been emerging in relation to global warming, environmental disasters and the threat of extinction of species, including the human species.

The Anthropocene, marked by deforestation, species extinction, pollution, global warming and glacial melt, is emerging as a sobering moment for humanity to reflect on its path and past choices. The impact of capitalism on environmental change has given rise to the concept of the Capitalocene, coined in 2009 by Swedish ecologist Andreas Malm, to which social, environmental and feminist theorists have contributed and continue to contribute.

New questions and problems are emerging related to the fact that humans are not the sole agents of life on Earth; we are confronted with multispecies communities, the rise of nonhuman agents (or actors), the nonhuman turn (Grusin), the idea of the “world-without-us” (Thacker), inclusive society, and artistic responses to these challenges. The consideration of nonhuman agents (animals, plants, intelligent machines) has stimulated a critique of anthropocentrism and introduced an ethic of inclusion of these agents in communities where they meet and interact with humans.

The Anthropocene (Capitalocene), understood as an event defined by climate change and environmental disasters (and not, according to new scientific theories, as a geological epoch essentially defined by human activity), encourages art to radicalise the critique of anthropocentrism and to take into account deprived nonhuman agents, too.

In literary studies, ecocriticism is also gaining ground. Ecoliterature draws attention to ecological issues and the impact of the individual on the environment. Ecodrama, ecodramaturgy and ecotheatre explore new approaches to telling stories about the climate crisis, with theatre companies being encouraged to adopt sustainable and carbon-free production approaches.

Marx understood nature as essentially socially mediated and not at all as “pure nature” in the Rousseauian sense, setting Feuerbach’s notion of nature out to critique. “Feuerbach’s nature is that of the virgin forest, or of an atoll recently arisen in the Pacific Ocean,” writes Henri Lefebvre (quoted in Schmidt).

If access to nature in its primordial state is not really possible, and if we are constantly dealing with a socially mediated and appropriated nature, how does art respond to this?

The Amfiteater Academic Symposium aims to reflect on ecology and climate change in relation to drama, theatre, performing arts and hybrid practices (e.g., performance art, (new) media art). Questions of how to respond to the impending catastrophe and how art can contribute to the green transition are increasingly present in the arts.

The symposium will seek to examine these issues through the analysis of examples of performances (and other artworks) that address them. We are interested in the ways in which they are elaborated, the impact of these performances on audiences, and how these themes are developed in different contexts. The symposium also aims to reflect on the philosophical, social and (post)political implications of these topics and how they relate to the challenges of contemporary society.

We invite consideration on the following topics:

- What are the challenges for theatre and its purpose in a world threatened by ecological disaster?

- Does theatre need to address ecological issues in a specific way? Does it need to develop a specific, different approach, methods and goals?

- Can we already identify the general specificity of the responses of performing arts to these challenges, as opposed to those of literature and film?

- Ecological issues have already been addressed within the neo-avant-gardes (e.g., Land Art, the OHO Group in Slovenia). What is the history of this kind of performing arts?

- How does contemporary (Slovenian) drama approach the themes of climate change, ecology and the threat of catastrophe?

- In what ways do artistic practices incorporate ethical, activist and educational elements, and how do they deal with the danger of moralising and excessive activism? Can we also find alternative approaches that are critical of the ecological narrative?

- How do theatre, drama, performance art or hybrid art practices approach data and documents? What are their strategies of representation?

- How are the themes of chaos and catastrophe produced by raging nature and/or humanity represented?

- Depictions of toxic, post-apocalyptic landscapes have been a theme since the Cold War as a consequence of fears of imminent nuclear devastation. How are artistic practices responding today as these fears are renewed?

- The answer to the critique of anthropocentrism cannot be in a naïve turn “towards nature”. It also involves a new understanding of machines and technologies since the turn towards nonhuman actors also integrates (smart) machines and AI. What is the view of the “world-without-us”? What is the perception and perspective of such nonhuman actors (animals, machines, plants, etc.)?

- Are apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic topics in theatre and performing arts related to the resistance to technology and warnings against its use?

References
Grusin, Richard, ed. The Nonhuman Turn. University of Minnesota Press, 2015.
Schmidt, Alfred. The Concept of Nature in Marx. Translated by Ben Fowkes. Verso, London and New York, 2014.
Strehovec, Janez. “Družbeni in filozofski okvir novomedijske umetnosti: novomedijski umetniški projekti v svetu iger, družbenih medijev, umetne inteligence in aktivizma”. Amfiteater, vol. 12, no. 2, 2024, pp. 18–40. English summary: “The Social and Philosophical Foundations of New Media Art”, pp. 38–40.
Thacker, Eugene. In the Dust of This Planet. Zero Books, New York, 2011. Troha, Gašper. “Družbenokritični potencial komedije na primeru ekološke katastrofe”. Amfiteater, vol. 12, no. 1, 2024, pp. 154–172. English summary: “The Social-Critical Potential of Comedy and the Issue of Ecological Catastrophe”, pp. 170–172.

We invite both theatre researchers and practitioners to join us with their papers addressing the abovementioned issues or elaborate on them with their own views and perspectives at the international symposium that will take place in Ljubljana on 9 and 10 October 2025. The working languages of the symposium will be Slovenian and English. The time allocated for a paper is 20 minutes, plus 10 minutes for discussion.

Abstract and title of the paper (up to 250 words) with a short biography (up to 120 words) in Slovenian and English send no later than until May 20, 2025 to an email address amfiteater@slogi.siYou can also contact this address with any additional questions. We will notify you by June 1, 2025, whether your contribution has been accepted into the symposium program.

Authors whose papers have been accepted will be invited to expand their papers into articles (either in Slovenian or English) to be published in a forthcoming issue of Amfiteater journal in early 2026. All articles will be peer-reviewed. Amfiteater in 2026. All articles will be peer-reviewed before publication.

Heads of the symposium: Maja Murnik and Janez Strehovec

Organising Committee: Zala Dobovšek, Maja Murnik, Barbara Orel, Mateja Pezdirc Bartol, Janez Strehovec and Gašper Troha

Contact:
Maja Murnik
Slovenian Theater Institute (SLOGI)
Mestni trg 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
E amfiteater@slogi.si

The symposium is organised by:

Slovenian Theater Institute (SLOGI) is a national public institution founded in 2014
as the legal successor of the Slovenian Theater Museum. The institute's mission is the development of theater culture and the promotion of theater art, which is realized through research, study, interpretation, promotion, preservation, documentation and presentation of Slovenian theater culture, theater heritage and theater art in the Slovenian and international space.

The Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television of the University of Ljubljana (UL AGRFT) performs educational, artistic and research work in the fields of theatre, radio, film and television. From its founding in 1945 to 1975, it operated as an independent higher education institution with a rector and then became a member of the University of Ljubljana.

Amfiteater – Journal of Performing Arts Theory is a scientific journal that publishes original articles on performing arts with a broad spectrum from dramatic theatre, drama, dance, performance and hybrid art forms. Authors can analyse the forms and content of artwork and art phenomena from the field of performing arts, their history, their present and their future, as well as their relationship to other art forms and the broader (social, cultural, political …) context.

The symposium is being organised within the framework of the research programme UL AGRFT Theatre and Interart Studies (P6-0376), co-financed by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) from the state budget.