The object as mediator: a pedagogical plan for museums dealing with anti-immigration discourses

Abstract

This article presents a pedagogical proposal for secondary schools, developed in the fishing district of Molinar in Palma by the Maritime Museum of Mallorca (MMM). The initiative aims to foster intergenerational and intercultural communication while challenging anti-immigration narratives. It forms part of a broader research project led by the museum throughout 2023 and 2024. Grounded in the Anthropology ofCommunication, the proposalexplores how objects can be re-signifiedas artifacts by virtue oftheirstatusassymbolicconstructs. Inbecomingartifacts, theseobjectsresistaccelerationisttemporalities, decontextualization, and homogenization, and instead support the articulation of community-based meaning. The design of the proposal centers on 20 objects imbued with significance, each reflecting the memory of the local fishing community. When understood as mediating elements, these objects become tools for constructing sharedmeaning. Among them, ten are specifically usedas catalysts for questions that seek to deconstruct dominant and socially accepted narratives around migration. The discussion considers how the project positions the museum as a space for dialogue and encounter, using its discursive power to intervene in one of the key challenges of the 21st century: transforming colonial discursive structures that underpin hate andanti-immigration rhetoric. In doing so, it aims to confront the cultural fundamentalism that sustains hegemonic narratives.