Dear Colleagues,

Published in 2019, the first volume of the Special Issue “Arts and Refugees: Multidisciplinary Perspectives” gathered a set of articles exploring the role of arts performed by refugees settled in urban European contexts. More particularly, the articles studied the ways in which artistic practices favour the multidimensional integration process of refugees in the contexts where they live, and how they inform and support solidarity movements and claims processes. The Special Issue adopted a broad conception of refugees—including forced migrants with or without legal status, coming from different countries of origin, having gone through diverse migratory trajectories and life experiences. All shared the performance of arts and gave it specific meanings in their new living contexts. Similarly, the notion of art was understood in a broad sense, including diverse cultural and artistic practices and domains.

The aim of this second volume is twofold: on the one hand, the objective is to deepen some specific crucial questions related with the artistic and cultural performances of refugees; on the other hand, it endeavours to expand the geographical scope of our analysis. This Special Issue will cover the following topics and research questions:

• Arts and racism/anti-racism. Scholarly literature as well as varied experiences from the field point at racial inequalities in the cultural sectors, functioning in diverse ways and affecting the artistic representation of and by racialized individuals. However, arts and cultural practices may also become a space of resistance to inequalities, challenging the system in place. With a specific focus on refugees, we intend to study the following issues: how do racial inequalities operate in the arts domain? To what extent and in what ways are refugee art practices effective means of combating racism in the arts and beyond? Which strategies are developed by refugees through arts to counter processes of essentialisation and stereotyped representations of migrants and, more generally, how do they cope with these?

• Challenging cultural hegemonies. Cultural hegemonies are intended as a set of situated and standardised aesthetic norms and values structuring the production and consumption of arts, both resulting from and revealing power imbalances. Norms and values associated with minorities are often excluded from the cultural hegemonies operating in given contexts, leading to structural barriers that prevent their meaningful participation in artistic and cultural life. In this framework, we ask whether and how refugees’ arts practices challenge the cultural hegemonies operating in the countries where they live, i.e., proposing alternative aesthetic norms and values, or questioning those in place? What are the results of the implemented actions?

• Cultural policies and refugees. In many countries, culture is an object of state—or other government levels—policies targeting different aspects of the cultural life of its population, as well as different rules concerning the production of culture. These policies vary depending on the context, and on the priority given to culture in each society. Specific policies may address the participation of minorities in the cultural sector—both as consumers and producers of culture. Do these policies effectively encourage the participation of refugees? Do they respond to the needs and difficulties they face within the cultural sector and beyond? Do they trigger processes of inclusion of refugees or maintain processes of exclusion? How do refugees interact with the cultural policies that target them—or cultural policies more in general?

• Gender and intersectionality. The gender dynamics involved in refugees’ experiences with the arts are of different types, including distinct ways of participation depending on one’s gender, as well as different meanings and outcomes associated with these experiences. The intersectional lens allows the study of gender dynamics, as well as the issue of racism, to be expanded upon. In relation to arts and refugees issues, we want to draw attention to the gender and intersectional dynamics that operate in the cultural field, focusing on how they are manifested, experienced, and addressed by the social actors. Moreover, we intend to explore the extent to which a gender and intersectional approach to arts and refugees issues can bring about broader methodological changes to research in this field, as well as new policy challenges.

Our objective is to gather papers that present research conducted in different geographical contexts, to develop a global approach freed from methodological nationalism, as well as to focus on parts of the world where refugees’ artistic practices are less studied than in the European context.

What remains unchanged with regard to our first volume is the broad conception of both the categories of refugees and of arts. Moreover, interdisciplinarity as well as the study of empirical material gathered through mixed and innovative research methodologies will be appreciated, as well as the consideration of ethics and methodological issues concerning research—in particular with vulnerable populations.

Dr. Marco Martiniello
Dr. Elsa Mescoli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• arts
• refugees
• racism
• cultural hegemonies
• cultural policies
• gender
• intersectionality