Contextualizing Migration and Cultural Heritage: Insights from the Traces of Mobility Project

Contextualizing Migration and Cultural Heritage: Insights from the Traces of Mobility Project 
by Amira Ahmed, Principal Investigator Traces Project,
Fayrouz Kaddal, Research Consultant, Traces Project,
Nada El-Kouny, Postdoctoral Researcher, Traces Project.

This talk will shed light on the relationship between migration and cultural heritage through a focus on the migration routes from the Horn of Africa to Europe. Moving beyond a nationalist framework for heritage, this talk pushes for a framework that prioritizes the traces of migrant journeys to address how memories of solidarity and violence are embodied and transient. It will address how the social heritage generated by migrants’ journeys and presence in diverse localities connects to their experiences of violence, solidarity and struggle generated through their journeys. It will also address what forms of intangible, private, and digital forms of cultural heritage are produced along migrants’ migration routes. Fieldwork conducted in Cairo with Sudanese, Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Somali migrant communities over the past four months is the primary reference for this talk. The fieldwork is equally informed by the multi-sited research conducted between Italy, Tunisia, and the UK for the research project, “Traces of Mobility, Violence, and Solidarity: Reconceptualizing Cultural Heritage through the Lens of Migration”. Funded by Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, the project is hosted at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at AUC, in collaboration with the University of Milan, University of Jendouba, University of London-Goldsmith and AUC. Amira Ahmed, Traces Co-PI, Fayrouz Kaddal, Traces Research Consultant, and Nada El-Kouny, Traces Postdoctoral researcher, will present the talk.

Public and Community Events | View More Events

Contact the organizers