Similar DOMiD, Migration Museum - Adelaide, German Emigration Center, Kaigaiiju Museum, Museum of Immigration and Diver |
Face of america the ellis island immigration museum
Migration museums cover human migration in the past, present and future.
Contents
The current trend in the development of migration museums, named differently worldwide, is an interesting phenomenon, as it may contribute to the creation of a new and multiple identity, at an individual and collective level. The United States with Ellis Island, Australia, Canada, and more recently several European countries — e.g., France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom — have been creating such venues to facilitate transmission between generations as well as encounters between migrants and the host populations, by telling their personal story.
While these initiatives also serve the duty to remember, they seem to have three main objectives: Acknowledge, integrate and build awareness
Given the international scene and the latest events, from the Van Gogh affair in the Netherlands in 2004 to the so-called ‘crise des banlieues’ in France in 2005there is an urgent need to give the migrant generations (the youth as well as their parents) a voice, in order to foster inclusion, integration and the right to difference. Listening to individual stories may help to deconstruct stereotypes. Memory, History and Narration may also allow to take a step back and to consider the complete picture.
Migration museums also face common challenges, in that they intend to be not only a venue for conservation and exhibition, but also and above all a lively meeting place. The challenge is not so much to bring in the intellectuals, academics, researchers, historians, traditional visitors of museums (the converted) but to attract the general public, those with preconceived ideas on immigration and the migrants themselves.
In addition to the following list, there are many local heritage initiatives and smaller museums which have increasingly focused on migration as a part of the narrative they portray.
Migration museums around the world
Argentina
Australia
Migration Museum, Adelaide - Australia's oldest migration museum
Brazil
Canada
Denmark
France
Germany
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
San Marino
Serbia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States
Other countries such as Switzerland and Belgium have support for national museums of migration but both of these have been put on hold because of lack of funding.