Migration in Museums: Narratives of Diversity in Europe

Open to museum professionals, exhibition curators, researchers from the humanities and social sciences, representatives from immigrant communities and artists. organized by Network Migration in Europe e. V.,
ICOM Europe (International Council of Museums),
Centre de Documentation sur les Migrations Humaines, Dudelange (Luxemburg) in cooperation with the following six Berlin-based museums Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen/Museum of Film and Television
Jüdisches Museum Berlin/Jewish Museum Berlin
Jugendmuseum Schöneberg/Youth Museum Schöneberg
Kreuzberg Museum
Museum Neukölln
Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin (Märkisches Museum)/City Museum Berlin

Scope and Goals of the Conference

The conference will bring together museum professionals, exhibition curators, researchers from the humanities and social sciences, (cultural) representatives from immigrant communities and artists. The format will transcend the traditional format of an (academic) conference. Next to a common opening and a public concluding session, participants will intensively work in six different workshops. Each workshop comprises 10 to 12 participants and will last for 1.5 days. The goal of the workshops is to initiate a European process of reflection and discussion on migration in museums in order to generate new ideas, new concepts, new narratives and new perspectives. We do not expect lengthy papers from participants, but rather short and sharp contributions for intensive discussions enabling new interpretations, which will confront established patterns of thought and practice and will enrich our imagination in the field. The minutes of the workshops will be the basis for a publication to be launched in 2009.

Framework of the Conference

The conference will be the concluding event for a research and interview project with immigrant artists (film makers and writers) in ten European cities (Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Istanbul, London, Luxemburg, Madrid, Oslo, Paris, Warsaw). The interviews will focus on the reflections of these intellectuals on history and historical narratives, be it their own life histories as immigrants, be it their reflection upon the history of their countries of origin/destination, be it European history, be it immigration history. These interviews will result in a webpage and a documentary. Moreover, the film footage is planned to work as intellectual stimulus for the conference and workshops, and it will be shown in the participating six museums from October 23 to 25. The interviewed artists will be invited to Berlin as participants in the conference and workshops.

Date

October 23-25, 2008

Location

Berlin (in participating museums)