Guestbook Project co-hosted a special day of talks and screenings around the theme of ‘Narrating Hospitality’, in Zagreb, Croatia on July 4, at our partner institution the European Center for the Study of War and Peace. The panels included talks by Guestbook co-directors, Richard Kearney and Sheila Gallagher, and board members, Petra Belkovich and James Taylor. There were also presentations by local Croatian peacemaker Mario Mažić (director of Youth for Human Rights Network) and film makers Tena Perisin and Dejan Oblak (Film School, University of Zagreb). Twenty students presented Storybite videos on such topics as hospitality and the stranger, several of which will be posted soon on our website.

This event is part of Guestbook Project’s mission of engaging young people to discuss controversial and divisive issues in order to build empathy through storytelling among people and communities. Working closely with our partners in places where historical, ethnic, and political divisions are part of collective identities, we aim to open a path towards a different future, where peace grounded in hospitality is made possible through the imagination and will of these young leaders.

Stay tuned for more events and projects.