EPISODE SUMMARY
The topic of migration has been a major source of debate across Europe, particularly in the past decade. The politicisation of this issue in many countries’ national conversations tends to reduce complexity and ignore the diversity and nuance of the migrant experience. The position of migrant artists is almost entirely absent from these debates and migrants themselves are often misrepresented in mainstream performing arts and popular culture. In dialogue with first-generation migrant artists, producers and activists based in the Czech Republic, Poland and UK, we delved into the migrant artist experience. We disscused what it’s like to emigrate with your creative practice (on both the artistic and bureaucratic level), where and how migrant artists and their work sit within dominant national performing arts scenes and what artistic and aesthetic approaches and perspectives migrant artists bring to their countries of residence. Conversations around migrants in the performing arts often take place in national contexts, so this conversation represents a unique opportunity to compare and contrast migrant artist experiences in different countries and discover what we can learn from each other and what types of solidarity we might wish to pursue.
EPISODE NOTES
Guests:
Ivan Vyrypaev (RU/PL)
Lora Krasteva (BG/UK)
Lara Parmiani (IT/UK)
Husam Abed (PS/JO/CZ)
The moderator of the discussion and atuhor of this podcast is Becka McFadden (UK/CZ).
