Art and Culture are the mirrors through which we understand ourselves as a society and as individuals. Art has the power to transcend language and culture too, allowing for shared understanding with people whose experiences are different from our own. A multicultural society allows for a more diverse representation of art, and so it is not a coincidence that in the UK, both performing and visual art is so diverse. The UK is home to artists from across the globe, strengthening the diversity of culture within our society, and adding to the wealth of creative experiences open to everyone.
The long-running, harmful way that migration has been used as both scapegoat and football by politicians, and false narratives of the contributions of immigrants to Britain, often means the contribution of migrant communities are either not acknowledged, or only acknowledged in hindsight. Throughout history, artists have come to Britain as refugees from war or persecution. From French migrants escaping conflict in 1870; Europeans after the first world war; Jewish people fleeing persecution in the second world war and in the decades leading up to it; post World War II migration from Britain’s former colonies, actively invited to do difficult jobs rebuilding the country; and in most recent times from the former Soviet Union, Middle East, China and elsewhere. From Lucian Freud, to John Akomfrah, Anish Kapoor, Freddie Mercury, Mathangi Arulpragasam, just a handful of household names. Art, like the rest of society, is heavily blessed by those who arrived here as migrants.
Although our society is enriched by migration and not just in the art sector, those on the political stage don't look at migration with much kindness. Mismanagement of the most recent surge in migration from the Middle East and North Africa, and the UK’s failure to take in its share of refugees, are one example. Migration being the cause of the declining economy was a baseless and false narrative which only created divisions and hatred among people and communities. So instead of treating guests coming to our shores as a valuable human resource, too often the aim was to exploit fear by sending a message to the general public that migration is a burden to the economy.
We’re a very small organisation, but we’d like to play our part in changing the record. We are currently supporting a new moving image work, supported by UCL and Arts Council England, that celebrates the positive impact of migration on society, politics and culture, and provides a platform for people who have faced discrimination under decades of anti-migration rhetoric and policy. The project involves working with people who have lived experience of forced migration to create a new artists film exploring the effects of the Hostile Environment (the basket of anti-migration policies so-named by the Home Secretary in 2015) with a focus on East London. This includes a micro-commissioning scheme for artists with first-hand experience of the Hostile Environment, called A/B Commissions, which was open for applications in late 2020 and is now going into production.
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