We are all constantly moving, forced or voluntarily, physically and emotionally. We move between home and away, belonging and alienation, silence and openness, resilience and vulnerability, injustice and reconciliation. Finding one’s identity somewhere between those poles is demanding and requires the ability to constantly change and adjust.
This is a virtual exhibition about seven physical movements, seven migration processes, all of them having taken place sometime in the 20th century. They have shaped the identities of millions of people and, as such, also shaped the European identity.
Will you recognise yourself, when reading the stories of some of these former migrants and their descendants? Will you recognize their feelings?
Migration as physical movement is embedded in human nature. The search for food or hope for a better future has been leading people to move since the earliest of times. Wars and expulsions force people to leave their homes. Many of these movements demand a lot from migrants. Their lives and health are threatened, their right to self-determination is challenged, and their individual identities become objects of other people’s prejudices and actions.
Here you will meet people from different parts of Europe and from all kinds of backgrounds. They had to relate to very different migration processes and underwent a great number of experiences. What unites them all are the strong feelings related to their experiences. This has led to their need to reconstruct their own identities. Their new living conditions and the reactions on the part of their (new) social environment have a massive impact. This goes for the migrants themselves, but also for their children and grandchildren.
Europe is continuously transforming. All migration processes, even the very painful ones, lead to new cultural diversity, which can be seen as a positive force in today's societies. Shared experiences empower the citizens of Europe and co-create our joint European identity, one based on the values of all of its individuals: respect for human dignity and human rights, freedom, equality, and democracy.
