Heritage of Migrants in a National Museum

Abstract

This article discusses the case of migrants’ heritage inclusion into the mainstream through the lens of theoretical perspectives originating from both the heritage and migration studies fields. It presents a case study of the event Jul på Polsk organised by the Norwegian Folk Museum in the years 2016–2018 and compares it to the findings from the study focusing on the individual engagement with Christmas heritage by the Poles settled in Norway. The aim of the article is to analyse the various impacts of the institutionalisations of minority heritage. These include, on the one hand, the opening of the mainstream heritage to minorities and giving agency to the minorities in shaping the way their heritage is displayed to broad audiences. On the other hand, these include selling minority heritage, creating a deficit of meaning in relation to heritage upon institutionalisation and an inevitable split between individual engagement with heritage and its institutionalised imageries, even if the same people put in force both implementations. In the final section, the article discusses the responsibilities of the museums regarding the shaping of national memories as a path for the creation of more inclusive futures.