On The Privilege of Creativity
Sophie Aanerud Upon entering a spare upper room in the Evangelische Kirchengemeinde St. Simeon (fondly referred to as “the refugee church”) on a Saturday afternoon, one is met by a rush of activity. Men joke in a combination of Hausa and Arabic as they sit before sewing machines. Piles of fabric in vivid Gambian patterns are cut and sorted. Stencils and instructions are sifted through as advice and aid is offered in slow and deliberate German. I don’t know what I expected as I, for that first time, walked into a sewing session at Muanana Refugee Sewing Project, but it somehow was not this. The atmosphere was light despite the great pains most of the individuals in the room had endured as refugees from Sub Saharan Africa. Despite the joking and unceasing banter, however, there existed a quiet underlying determination within the space. These men are studying a trade, refining a skill which they all hope will lead them somewhere beyond the jobless drudgery of life as a refugee without a German work permit living in Berlin. I quickly discovered, as I observed the tracing of patterns, the following of written instructions, the hum of sewing machines, that Muanana is not so much a project dedicated to artistic expression, as I had expected it to be, but to the application and honing of marketable skills, in this case, sewing. I had come to Berlin intending to research the ways recent immigrants to and refugees in Berlin engage in and employ creative expression to forge a sense of belonging within their new community. In learning more about Muanana and other refugee-focused organizations within the city, however. I learned that the refugee art scene in Berlin is far smaller than I had anticipated it to be. While some programs in Berlin sought to offer refugees more opportunities for creative expression, these programs often received little interest from refugee populations, who saw them as a waste of time, explained Christa Dentler, one of Muanana’s founders. Why, one asks, are so many of Berlin’s refugees hesitant to see artistic expression as anything beyond a hobby? Why do they not see it as a viable career, as a means through which they may contribute to their new community? Berlin is a city rich in professional artists.[1] Painters and jewelers, textile artists and musicians make their presence known in markets and on the sides of buildings, in bars and at festivals. Creative writers have long contributed to the city’s rich literary scene and sculptures receive commissions from both galleries and the city. Berlin is seen by many as a nexus of creative expression. I found myself early on wondering why the refugees at Muanana did not recognize this thriving art scene as an option available to them. Dentler swiftly and simply articulated first why most refugees don’t see creative expression as an entity of great importance in their lives. “The reason why the refugees tend to handicrafts,” explained Dentler, “is that that is the only way to earn money.” It is important to note the level of economic desperation in which many of Berlin’s refugees find themselves. “We need to get the job. We work to live, like everyone,” explained Hassan, a participant at Muanana. He cited responsibilities to impoverished family members in his home country as a large reason why he felt so compelled to find good employment. Several studies have been carried out which suggest that first generation immigrants and migrants tend not to engage in creative expression as much as other populations for they feel that it is not a viable means of making money.[2] A U.S. study published by the National Endowment for the Arts regarding art-participation along generational lines found that “across the spectrum of arts activities . . . second-gen immigrants tended to participate at higher rates than did their first-gen counterparts” and that furthermore, “first-gen immigrants participate at higher rates . . . when they have been in the U.S. for at least 15 years, relative to the attendance rates of immigrants who have been here for a shorter period of time.”[3] For most first-generation immigrants and migrants, a major focus is gaining employment and an economic footing in their new country. Not only is creative expression seen as a futile means of attaining said economic footing, it is seen as a waste of time which could be spent improving skills more traditionally prized by the market. This focus on work is further exasperated by the responsibility many migrants have to send money home, as many of the refugees at Muanana do.[4] In 2012 alone, 530 billion dollars were sent home by migrants worldwide.[5] Those involved at Muanana, and thousands more Sub-Saharan Africans now living as refugees in Europe, were initially migrant laborers, driven to work in foreign countries and send wages back home. “In many African countries, like my country, Niger, there no work, no education, no opportunity. So we went to Libya,” recalls Ahmed, a sewer at Muanana who is from Agadez, a desert city in central Niger. Ahmed worked for 12 years in Libya, sending earnings back to his family in Niger in hopes these remittances would help lift them out of Niger’s rampant poverty. Libya, under Muammar Gaddafi employed many men from Saharan and Sub Saharan countries as migrant laborers. The goal of these foreign workers, like that of most migrants and first-generation immigrants, was to send money to impoverished family back home. This practice of welcoming foreign laborers ceased with the start of the Libyan Civil War and killing of Gaddafi in 2011. Sub-Saharan laborers were targeted in the ensuing conflict, often placed in internment centers and prisons. Their movement within Libya restricted by threats of violence, these laborers often saw little choice but to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.[6] While these individuals are now rendered refugees on account of the violence they were forced to flee, they maintain a determination to work and continue supporting family abroad. It is true that involvement in artistic expression is rarely seen as a viable economic option, but one must wonder if this is so much the case in Berlin, a city in which art and local artists are regularly fostered and celebrated?[7] There is indeed, in Berlin, a second factor that leads refugees to the conclusion that they are incapable of finding economic success in creative arts. This additional factor largely involves representation: refugees in Berlin today (who are predominantly identified as people of color or non-white) may encounter artists frequently, but rarely encounter artists who look like them. As Yvette Mutumba highlights in her essay, “Artists if African Descent in Germany,” artists of color, specifically in this context, African artists, often struggle to find success in Germany producing the art they desire to make. These challenges struggle to move beyond German expectations of what their work should be like as based upon their identity. Nigerian artist Akinbode Akinbiyi in an interview with Mutumba, reflected upon the images the German public expected him to paint based upon his African heritage, “They wanted a certain image of Africa, mainly landscape and flowers. But I even did not want to start it. However, it is difficult to earn money, if you do not serve those expectations.”[8] Systemic racism today plays a massive role in determining which artists and art forms receive praise and attention (and thus economic legitimacy). “Because some groups have greater access to resources and more social connections to both local and global movers and shakers,” write Heather McLean and Barbara Rahder in The Exclusionary Politics of Creative Communities, “they are more likely to define what is considered creative.”[9] An experience I had while volunteering at Muanana’s stall in the Mauerpark Flee Market further demonstrated this reality in which art is judged based on the artist’s identity. Every Sunday Berlin’s Mauerpark is transformed into an expansive flee market in which artists of all backgrounds sell their products. The attending demographic is predominantly white and I couldn’t help notice that the stalls headed by white people seemed to draw more attention. In fact, the attendance at Muanana’s stall, run by the programs participants— black men— appeared to increase when I, a white person ethnically German, joined the stall. All questions regarding the products were directed at me and the other men working the stall were largely ignored. While this observation is just that— a singular observation, one can’t help but note that the witnessed phenomenon— in which white customers showed more interest in products which appeared to be produced by white artisans— supports McLean and Rahder’s claim that groups with more connections, more privileges, are able to determine which creative productions have value. Berlin, like many large cities in Europe and North America, fails as a patron society in two ways. First it fails to allow all potential artists the opportunity to engage in uninhibited creative expression and it fails secondly in celebrating said creative expression. This failure to recognize and celebrate artists of color leads recent immigrants and refugees to the conclusion that any attempts at artistic expression are a waste of time and money. My confidence that refugees in Berlin would be so willing to participate and actively engaged in creative expression demonstrated my naiveté and privilege. As an individual hailing from an economically stable background, I never worried that my desire to enter a creative field in which I may not have a steady income would impose upon my ability to feed and house myself and my family. I never had face the pressure of being the sole monetary supporter of my loved ones. As an individual with white skin and a Christian/secular background, I never had to fear that my perspective, my narrative and creations would be unpopular, that there would not be a wealthy audience to relate to and recognize my expressions. As an individual who desires to enter traditionally creative fields, I am fortunate. I am fortunate that such fields were even an option for me. A month in Berlin doesn’t change much. I conducted interviews with and was taught to sew by the refugees of Muanana, but their lives remain unchanged. Their uncertain refugee status, their inability to find legal employment in Germany, these realities have not changed. Their privilege of manual skills above artistic has not changed and nor, for the sake of their survival, should it. The only thing changed is a fragment of my understanding. I understand that creative expression, however romanticized as a field for the social fringe, remains, as Sharon Dodua Otoo puts it in Reclaiming Innocence, “privileged people producing art for other privileged people.”[10] It will take a long time to learn how to change this tide. I only hope that, through recognizing the role which privilege plays in creative expression today, we might be able to expand that field of expression for tomorrow. Works Cited Mutumba, Yvette. "Artists of African Descent in Germany." The Little Book of Big Visions: How to Be an Artist and Revolutionize the World (2012): 15-31. Print. Dodua Otoo, Sharon. "Reclaiming Innocence. Unmasking Representations of Whiteness in German Theatre." The Little Book of Big Visions: How to Be an Artist and Revolutionize the World (2012): 54-70. Print. Kirkpatrick, David D. "Libyans Turn Wrath on Dark Skinned Migrants." New York Times 4 Sept. 2011, International News ed., Africa sec.: Web. Burian, Al. "Artists No Longer Welcome in Berlin." Vice News 23 July 2012: Web. Isama, Antoinette. "Opinion: Tradition and the Arts at Odds in First-Generation Families." Blog post. Medial Reports Chicago. Northwestern University, 26 Mar. 2015. Web. Tomlinson, Simon. "Revealed: How Immigrants in America Are Sending $120 BILLION to Their Struggling Families Back Home." Daily Mail 31 Jan. 2013: Web. Ahmed Yacoub. "Berlin, a Safe Haven for "Art Refugees"." Blog post. Egyptian Streets. N.p., 31 Mar. 2016. Web. Iyengar, Sunil. "Taking Note: Immigrant Participation in the Arts | NEA." Art Works Blog. National Endowment for the Arts, 2 Mar. 2017. Web. 30 July 2017. "Interview with Ahmed." Personal interview. June 2017. “Interview with Christa Dentler.” Personal Interview. July 2017. “Interview with Hassan.” Personal Interview. July 2017. [1] Vice, “Artists No Longer Welcome in Berlin” [2] Isama, Antoinette. "Opinion: Tradition and the Arts at Odds in First-Generation Families [3] Iyengar, Sunil. "Taking Note: Immigrant Participation in the Arts | NEA." [4] Interview by Aanerud with Ahmed, June 2017 [5] Tomlinson, Simon. "Revealed: How Immigrants in America Are Sending $120 BILLION to Their Struggling Families Back Home." [6] Interview by Aanerud with Hassan, July 2017 [7] Ahmed Yacoub. "Berlin, a Safe Haven for "Art Refugees" [8] Page 16 [9] Page 96 [10] Page 54
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorStudent at the University of Washington, Sophie Aanerud, will be studying abroad in Berlin, Germany. Here are some of her thoughts . . . Archives
August 2017
Categories |