The Boundless Museum

Abstract

The flow of people moving daily across borders is continuously growing. Academic studies have covered a wide range of issues including economic, social, political and cultural incorporation of immigrants in arrival cities. However, few examines the role of immigrants in reproducing urban, art and cultural scenes by their practices and experience of migration. This research examines on how immigration transforms a city’s spaces and reshapes the arts and cultural scene, particularly in Rotterdam, a city of world trade and cultural diversity since the 19th century. Under post-war restructuring, Rotterdam has been an arrival city since the 1960s. With the development of harbors and port industries, rural-urban and international migration brought an influx of guest workers and families, shaping South Rotterdam into an international working-class neighborhood. While immigration has provided the city with labor force and enriched cultural diversity, it has also caused social, economic and cultural contradictions. Facing discrepancies and segregations, immigrants and non-immigrants often face challenges in associating with each other. The research aims to explore the role of a museum as a platform to foster intercultural exchanges across boundaries, so as to rediscover the inherent and multifaceted depth of South Rotterdam. Based on immigrants’ experience on migration and acculturation, the research introduces how migration practices and cultural integration process contribute to the production of art and culture. In view of problems brought by cultural differences and social segregations in South Rotterdam, the project aims to facilitate intercultural understanding through art and spatial experience in a local museum. In the age of frequent migration, the museum can be seen as a place that offers opportunities for immigrants and their respective cultures to be displayed and experienced, reflecting the heterogeneity in a city. The design of spaces are aimed to be flexible and adaptive, responsive to human movement, reflecting the migratory and transient nature of contemporary life.