How CultLab Helps Displaced Artists Rebuild Their Creative Lives
Cultural entrepreneur Maria Semushkina launches CultLab in London to support displaced artists across disciplines — with the next community talk scheduled for 26 April at Pushkin House.
In Exile, But Not in Silence
The twenty-first century has been defined not only by the global exchange of culture, but by the unprecedented movement of artists across borders — often not by choice. Political conflicts, wars, and systemic crises have forced musicians, directors, writers, and actors to leave their home countries in search of safety, expression, and new audiences. Yet exile is not simply a change of address; it is a fundamental challenge to identity, community, and creativity itself.
This is the context in which CultLab was founded in London by Maria Semushkina, a leading cultural entrepreneur and the creator of Russia’s celebrated Usadba Jazz Festival. CultLab is not a traditional production company, nor is it an agency. It is something more elusive and, in today’s fractured world, more vital: a platform where displaced artists can find each other, regain their footing, and begin creating again.
“As someone who experienced the upheaval of moving and adapting to an entirely new cultural environment, I understood how devastating it could be to lose not just your home, but your professional community,” Semushkina reflects. “After the war began, it became painfully clear how many incredibly talented directors, actors, screenwriters, and musicians found themselves uprooted — not only Russians, but artists from all over. We cannot help but create, even in exile. And we cannot heal in isolation.”
Building a New Creative Community with CultLab
The first CultLab Community Talk took place at University College London (UCL) in March 2025, marking the beginning of what Semushkina hopes will be a dynamic, evolving dialogue. Over 160 creative professionals gathered to share personal stories of displacement and professional reinvention — not in the language of grievance, but of resilience and imagination.
The event featured voices such as filmmaker and cultural curator Roma Liberov, Academy Fellow Katya Sachkova, and creative entrepreneur Anna Radchenko. Semushkina herself opened the evening, quietly but firmly insisting that “adaptation must not mean erasure.”
The next CultLab gathering is set for 26 April at Pushkin House, where theatre director Maksim Didenko — known for his critically acclaimed The White Factory, nominated for an OffWestEnd Award — will join the conversation. His work, exploring survival and memory through bold theatrical language, mirrors the platform’s spirit: layered, unsentimental, and vividly alive.
Music Saves The World
CultLab’s ambitions extend beyond conversations. In 2023, it launched Music Saves The World, a festival series uniting displaced musicians from across continents. The project quickly moved through Armenia, Georgia, Montenegro, and the UK, gathering over 150 artists — from classical soloists to experimental ensembles — into what Semushkina calls “spaces of inner freedom.“
The next London edition will take place on 1 May 2025 at the World Heart Beat Academy, featuring performances by Aleksey Aygi, ERÓNIKA, Timbari, and visual artist Grisha Tsvetkov, who will create real-time generative art to accompany the music.
Editor’s Note
It seems to me that CultLab’s work matters not only for the artists it supports, but for London itself. Creativity does not stop at borders, and those who arrive in a new place do not diminish it — they shape it. In London, a city built on generations of arrivals, displaced artists are not a burden. They are part of what keeps the city alive, inventive, and connected to the wider world. Platforms like CultLab are helping London remain what it has always been at its best: an international capital shaped by many voices, not just one.
Pushking House Public Talk details:
5A Bloomsbury Square, London, WC1A 2TA
April 26, 2024
4:30pm
https://tickets.lookport.live/Cultlab_Creative_Hub#/
Elena Leo is the Arts & Lifestyle Editor of Ikon London Magazine.