The labour of place: Memory and extended reality (XR) in migration museums

Anna Reading; Jim Bjork; Jack Hanlon; Neil Jakeman

doi:10.1177/17506980211010697

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	606-621
Number of pages	16
Journal	Memory Studies
Volume	14
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/17506980211010697
Published	Jun 2021
Additional links	Link to publication in Scopus

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: The Remixing Migration research project was funded by King’s College London through the award of a King’s Together grant. Funding Information: Many thanks to Dr Sarah Fine and Dr Leonie Ansems de Vries, King?s College, London who were part of the wider team for the King?s Together 'Remixing Migration' project. We also would like to thank the migrant storytellers, researchers and museum workers who participated in the workshops with particular thanks to Aditi Anand, Arianna Ciula, Alexandra Kubica, Abira Hussein, Akvile Terminaite, Vinya Mehta, Liberty Melly and Sophie Henderson. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: The Remixing Migration research project was funded by King?s College London through the award of a King?s Together grant. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Abstract

How do we understand the relationship between memory and place in the context of Extended Reality (XR) migration museum exhibitions? The study combines a global mapping of XR within migration museums, a user analysis of Cologne’s virtual migration museum, and practice-led research with the UK Migration Museum to argue that XR places in Web 2.0 constitute a multiplication of memory’s significant localities. These include a migration memory’s place of beginning (the location of a migrant experience), the place of production (where the memory is transformed into representation) and the place of consumption (where the mediated memory is engaged with, looked at, heard). Mnemonic labour involving digital frictions at each of these sites constitutes a form of multiple place-making with complex feelings, meanings, and (dis)connections. This points to an innovative approach to understanding and curating XR experiences with museums that recognises the significance of the labour of place.

King's College London

Research portal