Exhibition Concept: This exhibition delves into the topic of migration in the Mediterranean from the lesser-known perspective of "return." Through objects, works of art, and life stories, it seeks to explore the complexity of “returning” experiences, caught between uprooting and re-rooting, practicality and imagination, national governance, and individual aspirations. The exhibition seeks to interrogate these plural, circular, non-linear realities, sometimes obstructed, sometimes diverted, which engage with the notion of home, its recognition, and its transposition, while also reflecting on the memories and dreams closely tied to it. The exhibition brings together objects kept in public collections, intimate items, family documents, and contemporary creations by artists whose practices echo their personal experiences of exile and return.
The core of the project is the "Mediterranean Migration Returns" research-collecting project, which has allowed five teams of researchers to work in France, Italy, North Macedonia, Greece, Galilee, and the West Bank.
They have gathered objects, documents, films, photographs, and testimonies, which are complemented by sensitive cartographic interpretations created by Philippe Rekacewicz, highlighting individual and collective biographical trajectories observed during the research.
The exhibition's curation is led by Giulia Fabbiano, lecturer at IDEAS, AMU, and Camille Faucourt, curator in charge of the Mobilities and Mixing section at the Mucem. Scenography: Claudine Bertomeu. Artists featured: Farid Adjoud, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Bissane Al Charif, Zeina Barakeh, Taysir Batniji, Benji Boyadgian, the Decolonizer collective (Eitan Bronstein Aparicio, Eléonore Merza Bronstein, and Ali Abu), Khaled Dawwa, Rima Djahnine, Sabyl Ghoussoub, Eliot Nasrallah, Malik Nejmi, Amer Shomali, Tanya Traboulsi, Sofiane Zouggar. On the occasion of the opening on Friday, October 18, a special evening will be organized at the Mucem, featuring a concert with the group Bakir, a trio mixing electronic and instrumental music from Morocco and Marseille; a live techno performance by Olkan & La Vipère Rouge; and a presentation of the exhibition by the curators.
« Revenir » © passeport – photo David Giancatarina © Sfeir-Semler Gallery Hamburg/Beirut © Adagp, Paris, 2024 et archives famille Ghoussoub Feghali © Collections du Muse national de l’histoire de l’immigration – Établissement public du Palais de la Porte Dorée.