Block 1.1: Building connectivities through institutions. Susanne Boersma & Elisabeth Tietmeyer (Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Germany): Collaboration and incorporation of vulnerable groups in professional participatory memory work.

1. /*oem
WP 1: Connectivities built by institutions
ESR 4: Collaboration and incorporation of vulnerable groups
in professional participatory memory work
Supervisor: Elisabeth Tietmeyer
Fellow: Susanne Boersma
Museum of European Cultures – National Museums in
Berlin, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation

3. Exhibition “1000 Handkerchiefs
Never to Forget”, 2017 (partner:
association Südost Europa
Kultur)
Exhibition “Realisable Dreams?
Italian Women in Berlin“, 2015/16
(made by retedonne , Italian women
network)

4. Putting up the exhibition “daHEIM: Glances into Fugitive Lives”
2016/17 (made by KUNSTASYL and refugees)

6. Extending and internalising
participatory practices
Towards an incorporation of multiple cultural memories
in ethnographic representations in the museum
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daHEIM: Glances into Fugitive Lives
(temporary exhibition), Museum
Europäischer Kulturen, Berlin, DE

7. And how can this collection of cultural memories, through which people identify themselves
with their local institution, be part of one coherent and representative museum discourse?
Research questions
How have previous exhibitions successfully represented diverse communities of people with a
migration background and how can a ‘best practice’ be extracted from these initial
approaches?
In what ways can participatory curatorial practice be institutionally embedded in the
development of new exhibitions and additions to collections in ethnographic museums?
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The current context
Studies have noted that there is a demand for a socially inclusive public memory (McLean
1999) and have shown that memory institutions, such as museums, must pursue an inclusive
representation of (forced) migrants (Dudley 2015; Macdonald 2013; Gouriévidis 2014). Few
institutions have researched or developed best practice of including these ‘other’ voices whilst
remaining an authoritative institution (Dudley 2009; Karp & Lavine 1991).
The research reflects on recent projects that socially and culturally engaged with migrant
groups, using participatory practice to create a culturally representative collection of
memories (Macdonald 2003; Simon 2010; Meijer-van-Mensch 2012).

9. A selection of case studies
Participatory projects (Simon 2010) regarding
memory of place (Nora 1989), using objects to
represent individual stories (Miller 2008).
Fluchtpunkt (permanent exhibition),
Friedland Museum, Friedland, DE
PortoM (developing collection),
Lampedusa, IT
Museum Take-Over (intervention),
New Walk Museum, Leicester, UK
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10. ➔ This project aims to develop a revised model for curatorial participatory practices and the
collection of artefacts that represent and store cultural memory, as an institutionally
acknowledged and applied approach.
➔ To make participatory projects in museums beneficial and sustainable for the institutions,
their employees, the participants and the institutions’ (new) visitors.
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