Margareta Kern always knew she wanted to pursue a career in a creative field. Before she fled the civil war raging in her home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, she had planned on studying Literature at the University of Philosophy in Sarajevo. But fleeing a war-zone at age 18 and becoming a political asylum seeker in the UK hasn’t dampened her ambition. Now, eleven years later, Kern is curating her first contemporary art exhibition, exploring the experience of other refugees and asylum seekers, Leave to Remain.
‘The title of the exhibition comes from my own experience of being an asylum seeker,’ Kern explains. ‘I feel that Leave to Remain, even though a term for a visa, carries with it a poetic sense and describes well the experience of suspension where one might be asked to leave or to remain in the UK. It also describes a duality of experience of being a refugee and living in the UK, whilst coming from another country which, as a result of war or similar socio-political situation, one cannot be part of anymore.’
Kern admits the two-and-a-half years spent waiting for the Home Office to decide whether she would be granted refugee status or not was one of the most trying times she has ever experienced.
‘That period was the hardest in my life,’ she recalls. ‘I was very new to the country and had to deal with the uncertainty of my status, as well as the uncertainty that the civil war brought to my family.’
Kern initially came to work as an au pair in the UK before applying for political asylum. She arrived on her own, with one cousin in London the only member of her family who had not remained in Bosnia. Kern married in 1994, withdrawing her application for political asylum, only to have it replaced with another application process – that of being permitted to staying in the UK on the basis of her marriage to an EU resident. The ‘Leave to Remain’ visa was a term which followed her around until last year, when she was finally granted UK citizenship.
Although Kern has successfully pursued her artistic ambitions, she admits one of the biggest obstacles has been trying to overcome the negative connotations often attributed to refugees and asylum seekers – particularly in relation to forging a career for themselves outside their country of origin.
‘I experience London as a very open and vibrant city, but there are prejudices and difficulties that are not easy to pin down straight away,’ she observes. ‘When I arrived in the UK, and for some of the time I’ve spent in London, I have found it difficult to break out of the “immigrant” tag, where it’s almost expected of me not to do well in my career.’
‘I believe that is the main obstacle to settling in the UK – not to see oneself as separate and undeserving of all the opportunities available. I also believe that the media especially has contributed to these feelings of unworthiness and separation amongst refugees and asylum seekers… This is why I feel it is important to create opportunities on a large scale for those artists who may find it difficult to get the support and understanding they require.’
Kern began a Foundation Course in Art and Design a year after arriving in the UK. It was through this study she began to explore her experiences of being an asylum seeker, through various artforms, including painting, installation and performance. The Foundation Course led her to study Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, where her interests moved more towards abstract drawing and performance.
‘My personal interests were changing,’ she reflects, ‘but underlying it all was a question of why and how is it, that we humans end up in conflict with each other.’
The Leave to Remain exhibition came about through an invitation to contribute to Refugee Week 2003, which takes place in June. The seed of the idea had been planted in Kern’s mind for some time, but she never felt she had the resources or the support to bring it to fruition. However, after taking up the position of Studio Allocations Manager at ACAVA (Association for Cultural Advancement through Visual Art) in January this year, Founder and Artistic Director Duncan Smith threw his full support behind the project.
The response so far has been overwhelming, according to Kern, who has been touched by the strength of understanding in the refugee and asylum seeking community. ‘It is deeply moving to see that there is shared understanding and support for asylum seekers and refugees here in the UK, even though it may not appear so in the media and through government policy,’ she remarks, adding that it is not easy to be either a refugee or an artist, let alone both.
‘In the case of artists who are refugees and asylum seekers, they are already in quite an insecure position. And being an artist is not the most secure career in the world. Therefore, I believe any form of support is valuable and important.
‘This [exhibition] is a chance to deliver positive educational messages that counter fear, ignorance and the negative stereotyping of refugees, and an opportunity to tell people about the enormous economic and cultural contribution that refugees have made to British society.’
ACAVA is inviting submissions for the ‘Leave to Remain’ exhibition from refugees and asylum seekers living in the UK, who are actively engaged in visual arts practice. For full application details visit www.leavetoremain.org or email any queries to margareta@leavetoremain.org.
The exhibition will run June 16-22 at Central Space, 23-29 Faroe Road, London W14 0EL.
