Along the route of EU migration museums…

The typology of migration museums showcases the complexity and multidimensionality of
this phenomenon. Thematically, there are institutions that focus on the context of
immigration, exhibiting the perspective of the host country. Others – on the contrary –
underline the involvement of their diaspora in the development of other countries, such as the
United States, Canada, or Australia. There are also institutions that combine the aspects of the
immigration of today with the emigration of the past, presenting the current state of migration
and mobility through the lens of history.
Migration museums can also be looked at through the location of their headquarters, or even
the lack of one: institutions based in infrastructure that used to directly assist in the mobility
of individuals in previous centuries (in train stations, marine stations), or open-air museums
visually showing the influence of different cultures on particular areas. Finally, there are
museums located in temporary headquarters (often unique) or even virtual ones, readily available and benefitting from the richness of technology to promote multiculturalism and the
awareness of the fact that we all come from somewhere.
There are even more types of migration museums, such as institutions established by migrant
communities, or thematical museums – dedicated to specific events in connection with the
broadly defined “migrations of people”.
One of the biggest strengths of the project is that people working in different types of
migration museums were invited to take part in the research. This made it possible to
identify/extract good practices that can be applied in many different cultural institutions.