Migration and museums. The African presence and the cultural heritage of European societies

The symposium is organized by The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas and the University of Tampere, Institute for Advanced Social Research, in connection with The African Presence in Finland -exhibition that was opened last week in Tampere.

The objective of the symposium is to bring together professionals working in Finnish museums and other cultural heritage institutions, representatives of different African diaspora communities in Finland and as well as researchers with different disciplinary backgrounds (e.g. social sciences, heritage studies, migrations studies, African/Black diaspora studies, cultural studies, education) to discuss questions concerning (im)migration and cultural heritage, museum work, and the making of national identities and minority histories in contemporary multi-ethnic, multicultural societies.

Key note speakers

Elisa Joy White, University of California, Davis, USA, and Sharmilla Beezmohun, George Padmore Institute; Speaking Volumes Live Literature Productions, UK.

Language

The working language of the symposium is English.

Registration

Admission to the symposium is free, but pre-registration is required due to the limited space (max. 80 participants by order of registration). To ensure your participation, please register as soon as possible (May 12 at the latest), through online registration form.

Programme

THURSDAY, May 21: "African diaspora communities in Europe"

9.30 — 10.00 Registration & coffee
10.00 — 10.30 Opening words: Kalle Kallio, Werstas & Anna Rastas,University of Tampere
10.30 — 11.30 Keynote speech: Elisa Joy White, University of California, Davis:
"Locating Place, Centering Belonging: African Diaspora Communities in Europe".
11.30 — 12.00: Discussion

12.00 — 13.30: Lunch

13.30 — 14.00: Peter Kariuki, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Justice;Secretary-general, Advisory board for ethnic relations (ETNO):
"Engaging Diaspora Communities Using the Good Relations Model".
14.00 — 14.30: Maryan Abdulkarim: (title to be confirmed)
15.00 — 15.20: Coffee break
15.20 — 15.50: Ike Chime, President of Liikkukaa - Sports for All:
The Bounding Power of Culture in the Diaspora.
15.50 — 16.10 Menard Mponda, director of Fest Africa -festival : The Meaning of Music — and Musicians ! - For Diaspora Communities
16.10 — 16.30 Discussion

FRIDAY 22.5. "Museums and new minority communities"

9.45 — 10.15: Registration & coffee
10.15 — 11.00 Keynote speech: Sharmilla Beezmohun: From Present toPast — to Ensure the Future. How the George Padmore Institute Archive Came into Being
11.00 — 12.00. Discussion, and instructions for the working groups:
How to start the project of documenting minority histories and re-writing the history of Finns and Finnishness?

12.00 - 13.30 Lunch

13.15 — 14.30 (including coffee break) Workshops
14.30. -16.00 Presentations (summaries of discussions) by the working groups. Discussion.
16.00 Kalle Kallio, director of Werstas: Closing words

The symposium is funded by The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas, University of Tampere and the European Integration Fund.

More information

For more information, please contact: anna.rastas@uta.fi