ABSTRACT
This book is intended as a significant contribution to studies of the representation of migration in European museums, with particular reference to questions relating to place. It is one of many of publications made possible by the European Commission-funded ‘European Museums in an Age of Migrations’ (MeLa) project (https://www.mela-project.eu" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://www.mela-project.eu). More specifically, it is the third publication produced in Research Field 01 of the MeLa project, focusing on ‘Museums and Identity in History and Today’ in relation to place and migration. While this book stands on its own, for fuller understanding of the research context we refer readers in particular to the book Placing Migration in European Museums: Theoretical and Methodological Orientations (Whitehead et al. 2012). As its title suggests, the volume sets out frameworks for study. The book that you are reading now makes a complementary offer, marshalling a number of perspectives on European museums and migration from museum practitioners, scholars and those with their feet in both camps. These perspectives, gathered from the workshops, conferences and encounters that the MeLa project involved, are preceded by an extensive, three-part chapter by the editors aiming to characterize the field of contemporary museum practice in relation to issues of place, identity and migration and to offer critical resources for museum representations.
