Immigration
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When VISA Inequality Hinders Cultural Mobility: “Art Knows No Bounds” Until It Reaches the Border

  • Giselle Musabimana
  • Author Giselle Musabimana
  • Published September 11, 2024
Diaspora Africa

Background

Artistic expression is arguably one of the most ‘powerful’ mediums to connect and communicate beyond borders. Music, visual arts, dance, theatre and other art forms can be created and shaped in one corner of the world and almost simultaneously be experienced, absorbed, and reinterpreted by people across the globe. Yet, just as art travels and unravels fluidly, does the same hold true for the same individuals who create it?

In 2012, Brussels-based arts network On The Move (OTM) published a report addressing Schengen visas for non-EU artists and cultural professionals. This report was part of broader efforts to facilitate cultural mobility by bridging perspectives between the cultural sector and policy- and decision-makers. Eleven years after that, OTM expanded on this research through a new survey as part of the EU joint project Deconfining, this time focusing on arts and cultural professionals from Africa. This new survey, titled ​​Schengen Visa Code and Cultural Mobility: Latest Insights with a Focus on Artists and Culture Professionals from the African Continent, gathers the voices of 86 individual respondents from 25 African countries and 35 hosting organisations based in 10 different Schengen countries.

The need to revisit this subject grew stronger following the amendment of the Schengen Code of Visas in 2019, which was set to ensure faster and clearer processing for non-EU nationals. OTM’s research revealed that, despite the revisions, the visa application process remains extremely tortuous, time-consuming,  and costly, frequently resulting in a high proportion of rejections, especially for people from the “Global South”. A recent research by arts and migration research group LAGO Collective, visually depicted the disproportionate rates of UK and Schengen visa refusals faced by Asian and African nationals, with rates for the latter as high as 40-70%.


(Image credits: Marta Foresti, LAGO Collective, 2024 source). 

Visa Rejections

OTM’s 2023 report reveals that, since 2019, 61.6% of African artists and 77.1% of arts organisations have faced at least one visa rejection. In the case of rejection, 45.5% of individuals and 59.3% of organisations were not given a definitive reason, despite this being mandatory under the Visa Code. When reason was given, it was for alleged “insufficient proof of commitment to return” or “lack of sufficient financial means”. The situation appears thus unchanged from the scenario depicted by OTM respondents in 2012, with non-EU applicants still having difficulties in scheduling appointments, and with transparency regarding requested documentation, as well as facing unfair and humiliating treatment at embassies and by external service providers. Even among successful applicants, 76.7% of individuals and 100% of organisations encountered the same challenges during the application process, indicating that these issues are not due to lack of compliance but rather from the application process itself, as articulated by OTM.

OTM’s 2023 report also highlights a widespread misunderstanding of the specific conditions of artists’ mobility among entities in charge of  visa processing. Some confusions seem to arise due to the lack of a “clearly defined” professional status, irregular income of cultural/arts professionals, and the often short notices for the invitations. These framings are distorted as many artists across disciplines define their subsistence through modest means, therefore defining livelihood on “macro” paradigms is incompatible to the reality of individual lives; moreover, Article 21 of the EU Visa code states that proof of private sponsorship or official sponsorship by the inviting body can serve as evidence of adequate means of subsistence. Nevertheless, many artists from countries with less powerful passports continue to face visa denials, even when officially invited by international hosting organisations.

The claim of ‘lack of sufficient financial means’ loses weight even more so once we realise that refusal rates do not necessarily correlate with an individual’s financial resources. Two years ago, Congolese singer Innoss’B was unable to perform at Afronation in Portugal as his visa was refused shortly before the event. When we consider the scale of a globally renowned festival such as Afronation, attracting over 40,000 attendees each year, it is clear that when an invited artist’s visa is still denied, the issue is beyond financial resources. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) ranks 92 out of 101 on the Global Passport Power Rank (2024); as a Congolese citizen, a popular artist like Innoss’B would be required an entry visa for 144 countries. In contrast, U.S. and Canadian citizens require visas for only 26 countries, UK citizens for 25, and Europeans from countries like Italy, Germany, and France for just 21.

In this scenario, we are prone to ask anew the question: who “deserves” to travel, to move, to emigrate? While the migration debate keeps on revolving around ‘illegalised’ travel to Europe, those who attempt to move ‘legally’ face ever-increasing constraints. The current visa system can be described as a form of “global apartheid”: people in the Global South, once colonised and exploited, now face modern forms of control through limited mobility. Many African applicants report feeling viewed with mistrust, particularly with the assumption that they won’t return to their countries of origin. If prominent and well-resourced professionals face these challenges, then smaller artists and freelancers with less financial and managerial support are subjected to even higher economic expenses and frustrations.

Visa Discrimination Continues

This “visa apartheid” hinders artists’ professional and personal development, ultimately compromising their quality of life as well. As poignantly expressed by Ahmad Sarmast, director of the Portugal-based Afghan Youth Orchestra in an interview with The Guardian, the “world is open” for Europeans, but “those from Africa, the Middle East and Asia are second-class citizens”. It is also worth noting that, in 2023 alone, the UK and the EU respectively generated £44 million (roughly €52 million) and €130 million in fees from denied visa applications, with the majority coming from low- and middle-income countries – evidence of how Visa policies provide important economic leverage for UK and European governments. 

How can meaningful changes be made in a system where the very structures that limit mobility for some are profitable to the entities that enforce them? As Art is shared, exchanged, sold and consumed “freely” and transnationally, what does it mean for us in the Global North to appropriate and enjoy said art coming from afar, while its creators are unable to reap the benefits?

References

Writer: Giselle Musabimana
Editors: Amaka Obioji, Chimee Adioha
Featured Image: Olakunle Aro

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