This volume studies the movements of visual artists from the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, where a lack of opportunities makes migration necessary for career progression. Faced with such barriers, how do artists from the Baltic States break into the global art market? Emma Duester argues that these artists form an artistic diaspora of practice, forming communities across geographic and ethnic borders.

Offering a fresh perspective on art and the working lives of those who create it, this multidisciplinary work investigates patterns of migration and mobile working practices across Europe and discusses the implications of artists’ movements on conventional notions of home, mobility, and diaspora. Amid a global refugee crisis, a resurgence in negative portrayals of Eastern Europeans in mainstream media, and increasing anti-immigrant sentiment fueled by Brexit and the rise of protectionism, this is a vital work that shines important new light on diaspora, displacement, and what it means to belong. 

Emma Duester is a lecturer in communication at RMIT University in Vietnam. 

Introduction

1. Researching the Baltic States and Its Mobile Professionals: Context and Methodology

2. Cross-Cultural Exchange and Cultural Transition in the Baltic Art Worlds

3. The Nature of Artists’ Work: Getting onto the Global Art Market

4. Artists’ Homescapes and a ‘Homing Aesthetics’

Conclusion

Appendices

Appendix A: Interviewing Artists and Culture Professionals

Appendix B: Artists’ Bios and Permissions