Ecomuseums and Contemporary Multi-cultural Communities: Assessing Problems and Potentialities through the Experience of the Écomusée du Val de Bièvre, Fresnes, France

Abstract

By exploring the distinctive tasks and tools of the ecomuseum paradigm, the essay aims to evaluate the actual and potential role of these institutions within the present context, to investigate their efficiency in operating as progressive tools of knowledge and auto-analysis, and eventually to call into question their ability to ‘mirror’ the socio-cultural connotation of local communities, which have been highly affected by the accelerated migration of people, objects, cultures and knowledge. The increasingly active engagement of ecomuseums with the ‘new members’ of their communities, and the enhancement of participation and education activities aimed at fostering their involvement, are introduced through an analysis of the Écomusée du Val de Bièvre, which has been striving to act as an inclusive social agent through the experimentation with innovative collection,representation, education and participation practices.