Manchester Museum responds to refugee crisis with its latest acquisition
22 Mar 2017
Life jacket on display as part of new project
Manchester Museum, part of The University of Manchester, is engaging visitors with one of the major issues of our times, migration.
Migration is a key political topic and has been cited as a major factor in the referendum about the UK’s membership of the European Union and in the presidential elections in the United States.
As part of the new ‘Collecting Life’ project, the Manchester Museum is now displaying a refugee’s life jacket in the entrance to the museum. Bryan Sitch, Curator of Archaeology, visited the Greek island of Lesvos in December 2016 to collect the life jacket from the Mytilene municipal authorities. While there he recorded a number of interviews with people trying to help refugees and, once back in Manchester, he also interviewed a recent refugee from Syria about his experience of crossing the Mediterranean.
The life jacket symbolises the movement of people in a uniquely evocative way and it evokes mixed responses. Visit the Manchester Museum and share your comments and responses to the refugee’s life jacket display on social media using #MMLifeJacket