Event 23

Marina Warner - Sanctuary

Sanctuary is an ancient right. In the classical world, it offered immunity to fugitives from justice; in medieval Europe it extended a reprieve to all who sought it in a church or holy site. But what does sanctuary mean in today’s world? With the growth of nationalism and individualism, the concept has drifted away from a place of openness and welcome towards privacy: home as sanctuaries against strangers, migrants, incomers. Marina Warner navigates the principles that underpin the tradition of sanctuary and argues that storytelling offers a salve, a route to mutual understanding.