Children as heritage-makers in diaspora: Exploring connections between supplementary schools and the Museum of London

This thesis explores the concept of latent heritage in migration. It argues that within the context of migration, heritage is often made invisible, ignored or restricted to domestic spaces. Struggling against these processes of effacement, supplementary schools run by parents on a voluntary basis become important semi-public improvisational spaces for preserving histories, transmitting cultural heritage to the next generation and gaining visibility. In this context, children become key figures in the creation of new cultural representations, performances and displays.

The thesis focuses on heritage partnerships between the Museum of London and a selection of supplementary schools set up by migrant parents and run on Saturdays outside the mainstream school week. Based on research with Albanian, Tamil, Iranian and Brazilian supplementary schools, the thesis shows how heritage can be suppressed and re-activated through museum collaborations, and the unique new roles children play in preserving heritage, reconstructing social networks and making new public representations in post-migration contexts.

These child-centred collaborations between a city museum and migrant communities offer new perspectives on heritage temporalities and placemaking in diaspora. The thesis is based on collaborative, multi-sited and multimodal ethnographic research including the use of experimental visual methods and the production of new museum displays.