With nearly 2.2 million Eastern Europeans in the UK, they remain a relatively invisible and underrepresented minority in its creative sector. Join us for a panel discussion with thought leaders from across the UK's cultural scene to discover more.

The event will put a spotlight on the findings from the 2021 In-Between Spaces report and will encourage contributions from experts across arts and culture. It is organised by Centrala Space (Birmingham) and Pushkin House and is part of our ongoing Translocalities programme of exchange between cultural institutions in the UK and Russia.

There are roughly 2.2 million Eastern Europeans currently legally residing in the UK. Some were born here, some moved from different places and for different reasons, but their experiences are similar in many ways. In 2021 researchers at the University of Birmingham, in collaboration with Centrala Space, a cultural organisation that provides a platform for Central and Eastern European artists, analysed their position in the UK's creative economies and eventually produced a report entitled In-Between Spaces. 

It became clear that art by Eastern Europeans is underrepresented within the institutional system in comparison to that produced by artists born in Western Europe and North America. It is harder for Eastern Europeans to be recognised as highly skilled specialists and to achieve the same level of visibility which might be enjoyed by people from more privileged backgrounds.

Migrant artists from Central and Eastern Europe often take on roles for which they are overqualified and their professional backgrounds are frequently ignored in the UK's creative economies. This inevitably holds back their careers and for many means that they eventually switch to other sectors of the economy, lessening the cultural diversity in the UK. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic further worsened their conditions and reduced the number of opportunities. 

Sara Jones is Professor of Modern Languages at the University of Birmingham. She has published widely on state socialism in Central and Eastern Europe and post-socialist memory cultures. She has collaborated with Centrala on multiple AHRC-funded projects exploring the representation of CEE history, culture and memory in the UK: the Midlands3Cities Creative Economies Engagement Fellowship In-Between Spaces; the impact and engagement project Testimony in Practice; and the just-started standard grant Post-Socialist Britain.

Alicja Kaczmarek is the Founder and Director of Centrala and the Polish Expats Association, a non-profit organisation supporting the integration of Central and Eastern European (CEE) migrant communities and promoting Central and Eastern European art and culture. Centrala is the only publicly-funded gallery of its kind in the UK, and one of the most visited in Birmingham. Alicja has a background in sociology from Mickiewicz University in Poznan, an MA in Social Policy from the University of Birmingham, and extensive experience in promoting equality and human rights.

Maria Kapajeva is an artist working between the United Kingdom and Estonia. Kapajeva’s work often explores a diverse spectrum of cultural identity and gender issues within historical and contemporary contexts. Focusing on women’s position in contemporary society, she aims to question how identities are formed via subconscious effects of advertising, moves, and popular media through research-based work. From 2021 Kapajeva has started a practice-based PhD at Estonian Academy of Arts and continues working as a Project Manager at Fast Forward: Women in Photography. Photo credit: Keiu Maasik

Pauline de Souza is Director of the Diversity Art Forum. She is involved with the Arts Council and Philanthropy Department engaging with the Beacon Collective, Black Art Funding and other philanthropists supporting the arts. She is senior Lecturer in the Visual Arts Department at the University of East London and Tate Liaison Representative for Tate British Art Network and sits on the Tate British Art Network Steering Group.

Ūla Tornau is currently a Lithuanian cultural attaché in the UK, an exhibition curator and cultural researcher with a particular interest in urban change and conflictual histories. Before starting her current position she has worked as a curator and a Head of Exhibition Department at the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius (CAC), she was teaching and founded several independent artist initiatives. Ula curated and co-curated numerous projects including the Lithuanian pavilion at the 22nd Milano Design Triennale (2019); Lithuanian participation in the Biennial of Sao Paulo (2018); Lithuanian Pavillions at the Venice Biennale (2017 and 2011).