The “Exile” project, led by Bogdan Sărătean, delves into the theme of migration and exile through the stories and experiences of those who had to leave their homelands in search of safety. Sărătean focuses on the lives of refugees from conflict-affected areas, like South Sudan, whom he met in refugee camps in Uganda. Recently, he encountered seven African refugees who have settled in Timișoara, where they live a new form of “exile,” working in a factory and adapting to a completely different culture.

The project also resonates with the experiences of Ukrainian refugees who fled the 2022 war and found temporary refuge in Romania, some of whom still hope to return home. Sărătean aims to explore the daily struggles and similarities between these two groups of migrants: Africans and Ukrainians.

The project involves a series of recorded interviews with refugees from both groups, using their testimonies to create a script titled “Exile”—a theatrical work capturing the complexities of displacement and integration into Romanian society. The resulting performance will premiere at the “25 Hours of Non-Stop Theatre” festival in Timișoara, offering an emotional fresco of life in exile.