“Return” is an exhibition that explores Mediterranean migrations through the theme of return. Through objects, artworks, and research-collection of narratives, it addresses the complexity of this experience, intertwining uprooting, rooting, national policies, and personal aspirations.
What types of connections do we maintain with our homeland after leaving it? This is the central question behind the Mucem’s new exhibition.
“Migratory phenomena are often discussed in terms of ‘crisis’ – migration crisis, reception crisis, integration crisis,” say the two exhibition curators.
“They only consider the perspective and concerns of host societies. We wanted to distance ourselves from this systemic approach and focus on the lived experiences of exile and how these are passed down from generation to generation,” explain Giulia Fabbiano (anthropologist specializing in identity and memory issues) and Camille Faucourt (curator responsible for the mobility and cross-cultural exchanges department at Mucem).
The research-collection project “Migratory Returns in the Mediterranean” brought together five teams of researchers working in France, Italy, North Macedonia, Greece, Galilee, and the West Bank to gather objects, documents, films, photos, and testimonies.
