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.
Date: October 23-25, 2008 - Location: Berlin (in participating museums)
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
Conference
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.