Storytelling workshop exploring migrant experiences of underemployment, economic exclusion and work in the UK.
Join a creative storytelling online workshop facilitated by artist and educator Alicja Rogalska exploring migrant experiences of underemployment, economic exclusion and labour precarity in the UK.
Many migrants and displaced people arrive with qualifications, professional experience and valuable skills, yet face barriers that limit access to secure work, fair pay and professional recognition. As a result, many find themselves navigating insecure, temporary or low-paid jobs that do not reflect their expertise, aspirations or contributions. This workshop creates a supportive space to reflect on these experiences and share stories that are often overlooked.
Through guided writing exercises and group conversation, participants will explore their relationship to work, value and economic survival before and after migration. Together, we will examine themes such as deskilling, interrupted career pathways, workplace exploitation, barriers to professional recognition, discrimination, and limited access to networks and opportunities.
Alongside these challenges, the workshop also highlights resilience, adaptability and the different ways people navigate economic uncertainty and rebuild their working lives. We will reflect on the informal knowledge, practices of care, community support and acts of solidarity that emerge in response to unstable labour conditions but are rarely recognised within mainstream discussions about work and integration.
No previous writing experience is needed. This is a relaxed and welcoming space for reflection, creativity and shared discussion.
About the facilitator
Alicja Rogalska is an artist based in Berlin and London. Her research-led practice explores social structures and the political dimensions of everyday life through collaborative situations, performances, videos and installations that collectively imagine emancipatory futures. She has recently presented work at Zachęta National Art Gallery (Warsaw), n.b.k. (Berlin), Biennale Matter of Art (Prague), Videobrasil (São Paulo) and Manifesta 14 (Prishtina), among others. She is currently completing a PhD in the Art Department at Goldsmiths University of London.
Important information
This workshop is part of the Economic Justice project and the wider work of CEEus! Network — a growing network of migrants, community organisers, artists, professionals and activists strengthening migrant voices, leadership and collective action in the UK.
The workshop forms part of a wider series exploring migrant experiences of work, skills, labour precarity, economic exclusion and career progression in the UK.
Stories, reflections and quotes shared during the workshop may be used in anonymised form in a future exhibition, report or creative outputs as part of this project. Contributions will not be attributed to individuals, so please only share what you feel comfortable sharing in a group setting.
If you would like to connect with other migrants, migrant leaders, creatives, organisers and community members, find out more about our wider work, or become part of the network, you can learn more about CEEus! Migrant Network and join here.
Project funded by Barrow Cadbury Trust
If you have any questions please contact us on community@centrala-space.org.uk