Matjaž Jäger

In the first part of my secondment in Cetona, Italy I continued my research on the issue of inner emigration. In particular my research focused on the phenomenon of “inner emigration” and its representation in art and in the lives of artists and other actors in public space. Historically, an inner emigrant is an artist who opposes the repressive regime in his country but does not actively rebel, nor do they choose to emigrate abroad. He or she instead retreats into an inner artistic exile. If the notion were to be conceived in a broader sense it could refer to all kinds of situations and a multiplicity of actors present in public space. The aim of this research is to explore a variety of possible theoretical approaches to this phenomenon in the past and present, and to elaborate on its political and social phenomenology and meaning.