Reframing the Lampedusa Cross
The British Museum’s Display of the Mediterranean Migrant Crisis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.31730Keywords:
Lampedusa Cross, Mediterranean Migrant Crisis, British MuseumAbstract
In the fall of 2015, the British Museum acquired the Lampedusa Cross, a cross of the Latin type crafted from wood salvaged from a migrant vessel which wrecked off of the coast of Lampedusa in 2013, killing nearly two thirds of the 566 people on board. The Musuem has displayed the object since December 2015 as a testament to the ongoing Mediterranean migrant crisis and a physical manifestation of the “suffering and hope” experienced by those making the journey. Questions must be raised however, about the appropriateness of this particular object as representative of the crisis and whether it obscures, rather than promotes, the experiences of migrants and the European response to their plight.
References
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St Paul’s Cathedral. 2016. “The Lampedusa Cross and Refugee Exhibition at St Paul’s: Refugee and Migrant Displays Mark Refugee Week.” St Paul’s Cathedral website, June 17. https://www.stpauls.co.uk/news-press/latest-news/see-the-lampedusa-cross-at-st-pauls-on-sunday-19-june
Ben-Yehoyada, N. 2015. “‘Follow Me, and I Will Make You Fishers of Men’: The Moral and Political Scales of Migration in the Central Mediterranean.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 22 (1): 183–202. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.12340
British Museum. 2015a. “The Lampedusa Cross.” British Museum Collection Online. Available online: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3691920&partId=1&searchText=lampedusa+cross&page=1
____. 2015b. “Last Acquisition under Neil MacGregor Revealed.” British Museum website: http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/news_and_press/press_releases/2015/macgregors_last_acquisition.aspx.
Hooper-Greenhill, E. 2000. Museums and the Interpretation of Visual Culture. London and New York: Routledge.
International Organization for Migration. 2016. “Mediterranean Migrant Arrivals Reach 352,471; Deaths at Sea: 4,733.” IOM website: https://www.iom.int/news/mediterranean-migrant-arrivals-reach-352471-deaths-sea-4733
New York Times. 2016. “Editorial: Europe’s Continuing Shame.” 22 July. Available online: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/opinion/europes-continuing-shame.html
Papataxiarchis, E. 2016. “Being ‘There’: At the Front Line of the ‘European Refugee Crisis’, Part 1.” Anthropology Today 32 (2): 5–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12237
St Paul’s Cathedral. 2016. “The Lampedusa Cross and Refugee Exhibition at St Paul’s: Refugee and Migrant Displays Mark Refugee Week.” St Paul’s Cathedral website, June 17. https://www.stpauls.co.uk/news-press/latest-news/see-the-lampedusa-cross-at-st-pauls-on-sunday-19-june
Published
2017-07-12
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Forum
How to Cite
Breene, M. L. (2017). Reframing the Lampedusa Cross: The British Museum’s Display of the Mediterranean Migrant Crisis. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology, 3(2), 270-278. https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.31730
