Abstract

This paper addresses contemporary society’s attitude and engagement towards the heritage of forced migrants: it focuses on how the notion and materiality of heritage are changing due to the recent political changes and the on-going mass movements. Specifically, it addresses the following questions: what is the material culture of the current migration and refugee crisis? how is it interpreted and represented in open spaces and contexts which are not necessarily museums or physical cultural organizations? By considering communities of refugees in the North-West England and the relevant cultural organizations which of display diasporic heritage, I argue that the recent mass migrations will certainly have a further impact on the idea, understanding and re-definition of British and European cultural heritage, both in its tangible and intangible forms. These forms, in turn, will need a new cultural and civic recognition in heritage institutions.