Participatory museum projects with refugee-background young people

Abstract

Museums in the Global North have turned to participatory practices with traditionally marginalized groups in response to social and political pressures to become more inclusive and relevant and to confront their colonial pasts. One group which museums are increasingly seeking to engage is refugee-background young people, located at the intersection of two groups traditionally excluded from contributing to museological practice. However, while a wide range of participatory projects with refugee-background young people are being delivered with museums, there is limited published research and evaluation of these projects. This constrains opportunities for knowledge sharing about and across the sector. Responding to this situation, this article reviews the existing literature, focusing on key opportunities and challenges it identifies for refugee-background young people, museums, and audiences. Additionally, it attends to the limits of this literature, calling for wider critical engagement with such projects to support ethical and effective practice across the museum sector.