Memory Movement Montage

A Research and Creative Collaborative
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Memory, Movement, Montage began in early 2020 with the objective of building an inclusive platform for diverse perspectives on migration and creating an innovative curriculum for global engagement. We specifically focus on alternative mediums for narrating migration stories and histories to engage critically with material memory and memorialization. Our Collaborative challenges conventional methodologies and explores creative venues for both academic research and public outreach. We started by reaching out to academic, artistic, and migrant communities both within the university and outside to form a transnational collective. These vibrant interactions led us to conceptualize digital projects in six different locations across the globe: Amsterdam, Berlin, Goa, Minnesota, Punjab, and Zanzibar. We have initiated three film documentation projects, three photo-essay exhibitions, and two visual story-mapping projects through our collaboration with academic institutions and community organizations. We plan to complete our ongoing projects and move forward thematically by introducing new initiatives in the coming year on migrant cultures of food, music, and dress. As a multimedia project, this Collaborative will continue to examine the racialization of migrant communities, the concepts of borders and boundaries, and the meaning of political citizenship in a transnational world.