Migration Museums as Spaces for Intercultural Dialogue: The Museu da Imigração de São Paulo as a Facilitator of Participatory Practices

Abstract

ABSTRACT Migration museums and, in particular, the Museu da Imigração do Estado de São Paulo, represent a variant of the museum of society. By constituting a local heritage dedicated to immigration, the museum develops a participatory approach with communities of immigrant origin, highlighting its memorial character and facilitating the institution’s more inclusive identity. These museums often favour an interdisciplinary approach to the subject These new perspectives challenge museum experts’ and visitors’ own paradigms about the represented group or society. This article puts into perspective the constituent characteristics of immigration museums with those of society museums. The problematization presented in this article was done based on my doctoral thesis with a focus on museum history, archive analysis and interviews.