HEIMWEE
The Heimwee/Heimweh/Exile/Nostalgie du pays/Saudade Project
The Homesick/Heimwee Project is a performance group of women writers who have settled in Luxembourg and who are eager to share their experience of the two-way nature of the process of assimilation into their new European country. It combines the traditional literary reading with performance. The reading/performance is primarily in the English language, and the event lasts for one hour.
Immigrants usually feel they are “others” – strangers who are estranged. Homesick/Heimwee writers read stories and perform their personal experiences as “others” with the goal of building mindful empathy. It is said that to reduce the extent of polarization in a society, “empathy must go beyond imagining suffering and recognise people’s real experiences. That includes recognising [new arrivals] …as people with resilience, agency and emotional complexity.” [2] Mistaken simplification of the immigrant person as someone who must “fit in” provokes resentment on the part of the immigrant and xenophobia on the part of the host.
Our stories focus on how we often accept conforming to traditional women’s roles, because there are few alternative options. As women, our need for self-expression has been trivialized at times. This is a problem for women immigrants internationally and not just in Luxembourg.
The Homesick/Heimwee project encourages discussions between writer/performers and audience, highlighting the value of meetings between the citizens who are native and the citizens who have acquired nationality so that “to welcome” and “to be welcomed” flow one into the other. Such projects can make Luxembourg a beacon country for immigration sensitivity.
[The next writing session of the Heimwee project takes place on 25 September 2025 in the in the café of the BNL (National Library) Bd. J.F. Kennedy at 6.15 p.m. For info, send an email to
info@trieasbl.eu
TRIE PROJECTS
On-going activities
Find out where you can show your talent or simply explore who you are…
YOU ARE WELCOME TO JOIN ANY OF THE THEATRE GROUPS !
“When the Nonhuman Arrives” – a new play just out by Dana Rufolo, by the theatre group of Amnesty International, Luxembourg.
We hear about the casual conversation between two beings from outer space who encounter this little planet of ours….
The live performance took place at the at the Bar Grand’Place, Luxembourg, on 10 December 2025
“We Are Talking to You” – a street performance shown in various locations in Luxembourg, including at the Centre Hamilius in 2023, at the Human Rights Defender Exhibition – Abbaye de Neumünster and at the headquarters of Amnesty International in 2024. Its theme is the right to demonstrate and freely express one’s opinion.
“We Are Talking to You” – a street performance shown in various locations in Luxembourg, including at the Centre Hamilius in 2023, at the Human Rights Defender Exhibition – Abbaye de Neumünster and at the headquarters of Amnesty International in 2024. Its theme is the right to demonstrate and freely express one’s opinion.
TRIE PROJECTS
Past activities for further development
Successful performances looking for an encore…
“I am Viola da Gamba of the Singing Building”
– a Performance and Concert based on the book by Dana Rufolo and music composed by Philippe Partridge