Abstract

This paper considers the ways in which the notions and definitions of heritage (both in its tangible and intangible form) are changing, due to the recent and on going forced migrations from Africa and the Middle East to Europe. The recent ‘Refugees crisis’ (brought to the national and international attention via the media) has highlighted not only the depth of a vast humanitarian crisis but also a complex socio-cultural phenomenon that, without any doubt, will have an impact on the way cultural heritage is defined, interpreted and used by local (both hosted and host) communities in Europe to forge new cultural and collective identities.

The paper considers the changing notions and perception of heritage, through diasporic imagination and in the era of mass migration: the concept of ‘diasporic imagination’ will be used primarily to indicate the reinterpretation of the past (even a very recent one), on the basis of experienced memories of displacement. I will argue that the forced migration we are currently witnessing is the beginning of a new heritage paradigm, which would need, once again, a new cultural and civic recognition in museums and related heritage institutions. Within this paradigm, diasporic imagination is a key element because it can trigger a positive process of memory recollection and identity redefinition that allows refugee groups to culturally re-assert their history, memory and traditions in the hosting context.