Double burden of representation: how ethnic and refugee categorisation shapes Syrian migrants’ artistic practices in Austria

Abstract

This article examines the experiences of artists who were forced to leave their homes due to war, persecution, and violence that (re-)started their artistic careers in their arrival countries. Based on an ethnographic study of Syrian refugees’ artistic practices in Vienna, Austria, spanning diverse cultural fields (music, theatre, literature, visual art), the paper shows how these artists are not only confronted with what has been called ‘the burden of ethnic representation’, but also with expectations that emerge from being categorised as ‘refugees’. A four-mode typology of the artists’ self-presentations (adapting/masking/switching/refusing) uncovers how this ‘double burden of representation’ shapes their positioning in the field of art–by emphasising either ethnic or refugee labels (or both or neither). The findings contribute to the study of social categorisation of migrants and their artistic practices in the cultural field and how this affects pathways of social incorporation.