The National Museum of Immigration History (Paris, France), neo-colonialist representations, silencing, and re-appropriation

Abstract

This article focuses on the Cité Nationale de l’Histoire de l’Immigration (National Museum of Immigration History – CNHI, Paris), the only national museum fully dedicated to the celebration of the positive contributions of immigrants to France. Using postcolonial theories and the notion of museum friction, it charts the conflicting processes and decisions at play in, first, the translation of the aims and goal of the CNHI into the museography and interpretation of the collections. Second, it analyses critically the usages made of this heritage space, particularly its unauthorised occupation (one of the longest unauthorised occupations of a museum in France) by illegal workers for four months, from October 2010 to January 2011. I wrote this article from the viewpoint of a second generation immigrant, one of the key targeted visitors of the CNHI. This article is also based on participant observation of each aspect of this heritage space, careful observation of its uses, and semi-structured interviews conducted with the CNHI staff, illegal workers who occupied this heritage space, and human rights organisations which supported its occupation.