“Museums and migrants. Tools for encounters” is a Museo Egizio project in collaboration with ABCittà.
Consisting of three days of training, study and reciprocal listening among museum and cultural professionals and social workers from the city of Turin and other areas. Each day is divided into a morning of listening to practices and views, and an afternoon of workshops, in the Museum’s galleries, facilitated by ABCittà.
FIRST STAGE (04 June 2018) - THE NEEDS OF MIGRANTS. Museums have long been committed to affirming that, in addition to carrying out the essential practice of studying, valorising and preserving a collective heritage, they also feel the responsibility of being viewed and used as places of confrontation and dialogue. In particular, intercultural dialogue in the age of migration is perceived as an essential feature to which commitment and resources must be devoted, in order not to miss out on the interaction with a rapidly changing society.
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A meeting for migrants' needs, where possible, in order to develop a form of co-planning that favours a more virtuous system, aimed at sharing reflections, resources and results.
The questions that form the background to this meeting are:
- What are the keywords that frame the current situation of migration in Turin?
- What is the most urgent matters?
- What are the 'beacons' to guide action in the near future, and what are the most vital resources to leverage?
SECOND STAGE (26 November 2018) - MUSEUMS AND MIGRANTS: COMPARISON PRACTICES How are Italian and European museums addressing the issue of migration, both in terms of public discourse and internal reflection? How much space do they give to the voices of those who experience migration issues first hand, and through which tools? What impacts, discourses or even questioning does this kind of listening and attention generate? How does most effective projects in terms of education and communication? And then, how is the effectiveness of a project measured?
On this second day, the museums take the floor with the story of their vision or specific projects.
In the afternoon, a "case clinic" session encourages reflection on concrete case studies, refining planning skills, in discussion with the group and working on awareness of limits and possibilities.
The questions that form the background to this meeting are:
- How do European museums deal with the issue of migration?
- What tools do they choose to open up a dialogue with migrants?
- Do multicultural audiences influence museum choices?
- Which projects favour cultural accessibility the most?
THIRD STAGE (18 February 2019) - MUSEUMS AND CITIZENSHIP: DIALOGUE TOOLS During the third meeting, social citizenship is the protagonist of a discussion on the role of museums for social change and the fight against stereotypes: the round table involves civil society and the associations that represent it, capable of addressing a diverse public interested in better understanding the role and potential of museums.
What builds the dimension of social citizenship? Certainly the awareness of rights and duties, the ability to move in public spaces and services, the awareness of one's role within a complex social fabric. But perhaps also other elements that are being built day by day, and which must be considered with clarity. It is an orchestra in which many instruments play, and here we try to bring forth some of them: education, general care and health, journalism (and more generally of language), and justice.
The questions that form the background to this meeting are:
- How are museums, hospitals, schools, prisons, public offices and all other types of institutions in society interconnected?
- How can we increase moments of mutual listening?
- How can we build lasting relationships that strengthen social networks while safeguarding the specific nature of each one?
