Brexit Q&A: Impermanence and hope according to young creatives

Illustration by Dessy Baeva

By Desislava Todorova

Brexit’s veil of uncertainty hovers like a dark cloud over the future of young creatives. Being from an economically disadvantaged country in transition like Bulgaria myself, has put a lot of things about my position in the world in perspective. Let’s face it, Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007 and I remember life before that, even though I was very young to understand the full spectrum of goodness the EU gave us.

Of course, it would be absurd to make any parallel comparisons between Bulgaria and the UK on this basis. However, what makes a huge difference here for me personally is the fact that I’m an immigrant and I feel the pressure already.

In a nutshell, two fundamental principles of the EU - freedom of movement and trade - were slashed overnight when the country voted for Brexit. For me, this is when the obscure facts and figures from the news became very scary all of a sudden. What’s worse, the present became even more uncertain than the future.

I couldn’t help but ask myself what the Brexit deal would really mean for me? Why the trade agreement replaced everybody’s weather chit chat? Why are we hanging on the fisheries clause and should I really care?

I went out and spoke to some fellow creatives in various fields - from styling to illustration and fashion design. Some of them felt less concerned than me, but what’s more important is that we are all having this surreal conversation. It somehow captures the ominous zeitgeist.

Artist and illustrator, Dessy Baeva feels there hasn’t really been any noticeable change for her or at least not until this point as we are approaching 2021.

“The biggest shock I experienced was when it first happened and I felt like an unwanted foreigner in a country that had already given me so much. The reality though is that everyone in my social circle including most strangers I have encountered were really supportive and I never felt excluded or unwanted here.” 

Can you say it has affected your creativity?

One of the main themes in my work is oneness and togetherness, so I suppose in a way Brexit falls in that category and  it has added to the feeling of separation in the world. My reaction to that was creating something that binds people together.

How do you see your work in a pan-European world? How would Brexit affect your ties with the continent?

I am lucky to have a permanent residency status so staying here and travelling  hopefully wouldn’t be an issue. At the same time there is a lot of uncertainty what will actually happen and I think we won’t feel the real change until Brexit is done.

How do you imagine life in the UK will change after Brexit? What do you think wouldn’t change?

The first thing that comes to my mind is that  it will make it difficult for my partner to travel with me (he is British) and for our band to tour in Europe. 

Veronica Blagoeva is a fashion stylist. Thankfully, Brexit hasn’t affected her business, nor her creativity; she thinks we are only bound to see the implications of it in the next few months. However, as a European, Brexit did feel like a major contradiction and a mild disappointment at the prevailing public opinion, manipulated by the media or not.

 “The only positive that came out of Brexit was Mayor Sadiq Khan’s #LondonIsOpen campaign, which despite the mixed messages sent by the referendum’s vote reassured that London would continue to welcome and take pride in its diversity.“

How informed are you about the progress of the negotiations? 

I did stop watching news at one point as it did affect my mood and stress levels. It seems that the current Covid-19 crisis is the only subject deserving the attention of the viewers according to the media… as in the meantime major decisions on the fate of the U.K and its place on the map of Europe are being made. 

How would Brexit affect your connection with the Europe?

Although quite idealistic in theory, the idea of unified Europe doesn’t seem plausible. There are far too many strong identities and nations “living under one roof”. That’s the beauty of it and in some way, it’s almost a relief that the question of Europe as a union is being brought up. As of my work, I definitely think that it isn’t necessarily tied to a specific place, be it inside or outside of Europe, it could be anywhere and nowhere, thereby Brexit wouldn’t really affect me in this aspect.

How about life after Brexit?

To be frank, I try not to think too much about it as it brings up anxiety and fear in me. What upsets me the most is the fact that other European students and creatives wouldn’t be presented with equal opportunities to the ones we were given as Europeans pre-Brexit. Inflation, restrictions and bureaucracy are another undesired key words. 

Jivomir Domoustchiev is a fashion designer. He’s been sensing the uncertainty from day one after the vote took place - the result was a huge reduction of budgets for commissioning artistic projects.

Many big businesses inevitably focused on commerciality to sustain profits. “I don’t classify as a commercial designer as such, so many projects where cancelled. And we hadn’t even left the EU yet. This continued in the chaos of lockdown. I would say that loss of business was 30% from what it could have been and this is whilst I was and managed to grow my brand. I launched at the beginning of the whole Brexit mess so I feel I lost out on a lot from this… but I persevered and achieved things independently without investment  So, financially, I have had to achieve everything myself putting everything into the growth of my business. As a small independent brand this is not easy or cheap, but fulfilling. 

Personally I think as this is the last thing I would have ever wanted to happen it has been mentally draining. Being born in Eastern Europe then moving to the West, being educated here, then watching Europe grow when more countries became one— that was incredible. Now watching lie after lie manipulate the public to destroy what was created is just cruelty. Manipulating ignorance for gain for just a few is not how society should act. We should all be working for a better future not just for a few greedy people. Mentally I am still so frustrated by this.”

Has it made you less motivated creatively?

No, I cannot and will never allow my freedom to create and express to be affected by others. My plans for exhibiting and launching retail units have been affected, as I said before companies wishing to invest in creative projects have pulled back. However, this doesn’t affect what I chose to create.

In what way will Brexit affect your perspective on Europe?

I am a European. They cannot take that away from me. I am also lucky that I have dual citizenship so I can freely continue to live and work where I chose without being restricted by this situation. By leaving Europe, the UK will lose the opportunity to be part of something bigger and the young, the next generations will miss out on so many opportunities. We are responsible for them, we are supposed to create a better world for our children and not destroy it.

How do you see life in the UK after Brexit?

There are so many difficult issues right now, with a worldwide pandemic, with job losses for so many, with a reduction in spending power, with a loss of savings, with a burdening of debt and an inevitable rise in taxes. 

I expect chaos at the borders when shipping or trading with European countries. Just to show samples in Paris we technically from now have to do a carnet to go across with samples so we can prove that they will not be sold and are just for soliciting orders. This is what we do for other countries outside the EU. Carnets cost just under £1000 plus the time lost to prepare them, 1 – 2 days.  If I have to go to Europe for meetings twice a month that’s an extra £24,000k bureaucratic spend a year plus up to 48 days lost in preparing the documents which are simply stamped. 

Every time a shipment is delayed, lost or stopped it takes days of emails and calls with a system, designed to only benefit the shipping companies. Unfortunately, this country manufactures very little in the form of components (like hardware and fabrics). All of this has to come in with greater delays and greater cost. 

Overall, to me the cost of Brexit is around 45% loss in income from every item sold at which point you have to wonder - is it really worth targeting the EU for sales?