Page - 173 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 4/2018

Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 Charlotte Bank | Remaking a World 173 Based on conversations with displaced Syrian artists in Berlin, in what follows I will discuss the impact of exile on the practice of these artists, how the conditions of displacement and exile impact on their perception of self and inform their work and how they navigate the institution- al terrain of their new home.3 I am largely concentrating on artists who work in contemporary media, such as video, installation and sound art. Berlin has also become host to a large number of artists who work in more traditional media, such as painting and drawing. Their situation might be slightly different, as they are possibly more likely to find representation in galleries and do not depend on the institutional framework of non-profit spaces, as the other artists do. On the other hand, the competitiveness of Berlin’s gallery scene might present an imposing challenge for these artists as well. Not all of the artists discussed here are very recently displaced, three of them already lived partially outside Syria before the war. However, due to the critical character of their work, they lost the possibility of going back to their country of origin, as they had been used to before. In this way, whether an artist is among those who have been recently displaced or they lived partly abroad before the war, Syria remains a lost place for the time being. Making sense of displacement and exile Many artists were forced to leave Syria due to their political positioning against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Consequently, for those who came to Berlin, the city was first and foremost a secure haven, sometimes reached after considerable hardship and journeys full of perils. But despite this feeling of relief, the first period in the city has also in many cases been characterized by bureaucratic obstacles, something that has complicated a smooth new start. One important challenge has been the system of allocated places of residence for asylum seekers, as it is prac- ticed in Germany. This functions through a central system and does not accommodate any individual preferences. As a consequence, a number of artists were obliged to move to small, provincial towns, far from Berlin and its relevant professional institutions and networks. In some cases, acquiring the assistance of a lawyer was the only way to prevent this significant setback of their careers. Others chose to take it upon them to move to the allocated towns, while returning to Berlin as soon as this became possible. Another important obstacle to art- ists’ careers are those travel restrictions placed on asylum seekers, as long as their case is being processed. This might mean not being able to travel to attend exhibition openings and film festivals. For artists in need of building up new networks and reinforcing existing ones, this can present a serious setback to their careers. Beside these professional issues, the tasks of getting organized in a new and foreign environ- ment also present a significant challenge to the smooth integration into life in the new place of residence. For many artists, the status of “refugee” is perceived as frustrating and humiliating, as they feel unrepresented by mainstream society’s image of the stereotypical refugee as a dein- dividualized, needy and miserable person. For artists who still wish to address the ongoing con- flict in their home country and its high human and cultural costs, finding a way to balance this need without feeding into such essentialist notions of “the refugee” becomes a major concern. 3 The research for this project was made possible by a postdoctoral fellowship of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, during which I was based at the Museum of Islamic Art from January – March 2018.