The conference organised by the European Alliance of Academies examines the impact of the Brexit referendum on artists and cultural practitioners, and on the future of cultural exchange between the UK and Europe.

With Eliza Bonham Carter, Ian Christie, Thangam Debbonaire, Eloise Fornieles, Esther Kinsky, Cécile Lee, Patrick McGuinness, A.E. Stallings, Manos Tsangaris, Emlyn Stam, Marina Warner, Cécile Wajsbrot, Jane and Louise Wilson and others

Front view of the All Souls College in Oxford — All Souls College, Oxford
© Jonas Magnus Lystad

2026 marks the tenth anniversary of the United Kingdom’s referendum to leave the European Union. A decade defined by political rupture, cultural disruption, and the slow unravelling of ties that had sustained creative and intellectual life across the continent. The consequences have been neither abstract nor confined: they have fallen most heavily on artists, educators, students, and cultural practitioners on both sides of the Channel. Musicians, visual artists, writers and filmmakers face severe restrictions on movement and collaboration; students no longer enjoy freedom of access to education across borders; and arts institutions on both sides have seen the networks and partnerships they depend upon contract sharply.

Writer and Akademie member Esther Kinsky, who just won the inaugural German-Austrian Poetry Prize, will open the conference with a keynote speech on reclaiming a European utopia. Panel discussions featuring, amongst others, the poet A. E. Stallings, the filmmaker Ian Christie and the violist Emlyn Stam will explore personal impressions of life in “Brexil” and the impact on artistic and intellectual exchange. In the “Café Climate – Café Channel” discussion format, students and members of the public are invited to join academic Katherine Collins, curator Susanne Clausen and artist Jovana Popić at three round-table discussions to exchange views on the relationship between Brexit and the climate crisis.

The conference reflects on what has been lost whilst simultaneously creating space for honest debate, creative exchange and new forms of solidarity-based collaboration in the future.

The panel “Barriers and Borders: Finding a Way Through” will be live-streamed as part of the EU-funded Re:Create Europe project.

The event will take place at All Souls College and Mansfield College in Oxford, UK.

Further information and the two-day conference programme can be found in the brochure available for download.