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oa Singular Travels: Microhistory as a Museology of Migration

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Based on the intellectual apparatus underpinning an exhibition which ran in Aubervilliers, a suburb of Paris, France, from September 2021 to June 2022, this paper presents a singular approach to displaying migration experiences through material artefacts and embodied narratives. In contrast to mainstream museographies of migration, often riddled with issues of essentialism, teleology and administrative bias, the choice of a microhistorical and micromaterial focus is meant to allow for a non-prototypical reconstruction of people's itineraries and life courses. In addition, an embedded mediation strategy aims at maximizing both the inclusivity of the project and the agency of visitors.

Keywords: Aubervilliers ; Banlieue ; France ; La Vie HLM ; Material history ; Microhistory ; Migration ; Museum design ; Objects ; Transfacts

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References

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     [Google Scholar]
  2. Berlinger, Gabrielle A. “Balancing Memory and Material at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.” Museum Anthropology Review, vol. 12, no. 1, 2018, pp. 14–29.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Bertrand, Romain, and Patrick Boucheron, editors. Faire musée d'une histoire commune. Le Seuil/MNHI, 2019.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Blickstein, Tamar. “Forgetful ‘Sites of Memory’: Immigration Museums and the Uses of Public Memory.” The New School Psychology Bulletin, vol. 6, no. 2, 2009, pp. 15–31.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Bounia, Alexandra. “Visitors’ Opinions on the Inclusion of Migrants in Museum Exhibitions: Migrant and Non-Migrant Communities in Greece.” Global Mobilities: Refugees, Exiles, and Immigrants in Museums and Archives, edited by Amy K. Levin, Routledge, 2016, pp. 227–242.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Coffee, Kevin. “Museums and the Agency of Ideology: Three Recent Examples.” Curator: The Museum Journal, vol. 49, no. 4, 2006, pp. 435–448.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Cossu, Anna. A Place in the Rocks. Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, 2008.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Delaplace, Andréa. “Un palais pour les immigrés? Le Musée de l'histoire de l'immigration à Paris: une collection et un musée en devenir.” Les Cahiers de l’École du Louvre. Recherches en histoire de l'art, histoire des civilisations, archéologie, anthropologie et muséologie, no. 7, 2015, pp. 89–99.182
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Gordon-Walker, Caitlin. Exhibiting Nation: Multicultural Nationalism (and Its Limits) in Canada's Museums. University of British Columbia Press, 2016.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Greenblatt, Stephen. “Resonance and Wonder.” Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display, edited by Steven D. Lavine and Ivan Karp, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991, pp. 42–56.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Gregory, Brad S. “Is Small Beautiful? Microhistory and the History of Everyday Life.” History and Theory, vol. 38, no. 1, 1999, pp. 100–110.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Hammett, Jessica, et al. “Art, Collaboration and Multi-Sensory Approaches in Public Microhistory: Journey with Absent Friends.” History Workshop Journal, vol. 89, 2020, pp. 246–269.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Hodge, Christina J., and Christa M. Beranek. “Dwelling: Transforming Narratives at Historic House Museums.” International Journal of Heritage Studies, vol. 17, no. 2, 2011, pp. 97–101.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Iggers, Georg G. Historiography in the Twentieth Century: From Scientific Objectivity to the Postmodern Challenge. Wesleyan University Press, 2005.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Ingemann Parby, Jakob. “The Theme of Migration as a Tool for Deconstructing and Reconstructing Identities in Museums: Experiences from the Exhibition.” Museums, Migration and Identity in Europe: Peoples, Places and Identities, edited by Christopher Whitehead et al., Routledge, 2016, pp. 123–148.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Lanz, Francesca. “Staging Migration (in) Museums: A Reflection on Exhibition Design Practices for the Representation of Migration in European Contemporary Museums.” Museum & Society, vol. 14, no. 1, 2016, pp. 178–192.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Mairesse, François. “Foreword.” Defining the Museum of the 21st Century: Evolving Multiculturalism in Museums in the United States, edited by Yun Shun Susie Chung et al., ICOM/ICOFOM, 2019, pp. 9–13.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Maroević, Ivo. “Challenges for Ethnographical and Social History Museums Looking to the New Museums Looking to the New Millenium.” Socijalna Ekologija, vol. 8, no. 1–2, 1999, pp. 57–66.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Marstine, Janet, et al. New Directions in Museum Ethics. Routledge, 2013.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. McFadzean, Moya. “Purposeful Memory-Making: Personal Narratives of Migration at Melbourne's Immigration Museum.” Remembering Migration, edited by Kate Darian-Smith and Paula Hamilton, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, pp. 255–270.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Pelsmaekers, Katja, and Tom Van Hout, “People on the Move: How Museums De-marginalize Migration.” Social Semiotics, vol. 30, no. 4, 2020, pp. 607–624.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Pink, Sarah, et al. “Walking Across Disciplines: From Ethnography to Arts Practice.” Visual Studies, vol. 25, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1–7.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Rasse, Paul. Le musée réinventé. Culture, patrimoine, médiation. CNRS Éditions, 2017.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Saphinaz-Amal, Naguib. “Collecting Moments of Life: Museums and the Intangible Heritage of Migration.” Museum International, vol. 65, no. 1–4, 2013, pp. 77–86.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Sutherland, Claire. “Leaving and Longing: Migration Museums as Nation-Building Sites.” Museum and Society, vol. 12, no. 2, 2014, pp. 118–131.183
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Wang, Cangbai. Museum Representations of Chinese Diasporas: Migration Histories and the Cultural Heritage of the Homeland. Routledge, 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Witcomb, Andrea. “Remembering the Dead by Affecting the Living: The Case of a Miniature Model of Treblinka.” Museum Materialities: Objects, Engagements, Interpretations, edited by Sandra Dudley, Routledge, 2010, pp. 39–52.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Zalc, Claire, and Nicolas Mariot. Face à la persécution: 991 Juifs dans la guerre. Odile Jacob, 2010.
     [Google Scholar]

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