Anna Marsden - Changing Lenses

        Belonging over time and the ambiguity of language   I bought this small poster when I was a teenager in one of my first trips to the UK, where I used to come every summer to visit various relatives. It remained somewhere, totally forgotten, and I found it while I was organising my final move to London. I decided to bring it with me as a memory of my long relationship with this country. Since I was born I had some feeling of belonging to Britain, as a third generation British migrant in Italy, it developed at distance over time, and it is now reinforced as part of my new identity as a Londoner.   Before, the writing ‘Britain is great’ reflected just my juvenile enthusiasm in discovering the country. Nowadays I am aware that this message can be read in opposite ways. For me (and many others) it means that this country is great with its multi-ethnic population that contributed, and still contributes, to what Britishness is today, and that there is space for immigrants to move and live here. For Theresa May and her entourage it means that Britain can stand alone, out of the EU, with a “special relationship” with Trump, against immigrants and their rights as well as against Britons and their right to freedom of movement in the EU.  

 

 

 

  Old and New Immigrants   In 1938-39 10,000 children escaped from Nazi persecution and found refuge in the UK. The Kindertransport statue reminds us of this event and invites us to reflect on the difficulties faced by present asylum seekers in the UK.   I took this photo during a recent Migration Walk, a guided tour of London the history of its immigrants. The walk was organised by the Migration Museum Project, a charity I volunteer for, that works to create a permanent migration museum on the history of immigration and emigration in the UK.   An historical perspective and an extensive view of migration (including in and out migration) helps to promote integration contrasting the division between in and out-siders emphasised by some interpretations of what integration means.

 

    Food and socialisation Eating food coming from different countries is a common way to discover something of other cultures. Immigrants’ enterprises act as agents of integration through selling their food; sometimes they also adopt specific policies to encourage customers to socialise together. In this market (opened by an Italian company but including about half of the stalls managed by Britons, Spanish, Vietnamese and other nationals) there is no wi-fi and there is plenty of space to sit in order to invite customers to chat together and to use the market as a social space.   Integration is a 2 way process and we should put more attention on how immigrants themselves promote it.      

 

  Britons and foreigners integrating together   Euroclub is one of the oldest language exchange groups in London. It organises language exchange evenings in several languages, language classes, walks, visits to museums and other social events.   I joined this group in early 2017. I like meeting new people here, discuss with them different issues and so get to know better this city and its multi-ethnic inhabitants. Groups like this are based on equal relationships and reciprocal interest in different languages and cultures. I think they are important to develop significant processes of integration from below.      

 

  Fighting together 48% voted against Brexit, as this protester stresses. If immigrants were allowed to vote, this percentage would have been much higher, and we wouldn’t be in these troubles….. To be great, Britain needs to be the country of everyone who lives here.      

 

  After the EU referendum racism has largely increased in the country, but new social movements, such as Stand Up to Racism, have developed and see many Britons and immigrants fighting together against Brexit, racism and social injustice. Being part of these movements has reinforced my feeling of belonging to London (and the UK). Integration is never an isolated and just individual process, it is largely influenced by the social context you live in. I believe that acting together with others to change that context and make it more inclusive is an important aspect of any process of integration.    

 

       

 

Self portrait This is a corner of my room in London. Passion for travelling is an important aspect of my personal identity. The objects included in this photo come from numerous countries that I have visited for pleasure, study or work.   These objects are related in two different ways to my integration process. I feel more integrated in this city having my personal belongings here. At the same time these objects can well represent London; they come from many different places just as Londoners. I love this superdiversity which is one of the reasons that made me choose to live here.   These photos and accompanying writing were made as part of the Changing Lenses; London stories of Integration project. You can listen to my podcast for the project here: https://soundcloud.com/migrant-voice/anna-marsden