Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration
The Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration is a museum of immigration history located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris at 293, avenue Daumesnil. The nearest métro station is Porte Dorée. It is open daily except Monday; an admission fee is charged.
The museum was conceived in 1989 by Algerian immigrant Zaïr Kedadouche, supported initially by historians including Pierre Milza and Gérard Noiriel, and established by President Jacques Chirac with a mission to "contribute to the recognition of the integration of immigrants into French society and advance the views and attitudes on immigration in France". It opened without public ceremony in late 2007 under his successor, President Nicolas Sarkozy, amid political controversy in which eight of the twelve academics involved in the project resigned.
The museum occupies the Palais de la Porte Dorée, formerly the home of the Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes. It contains over 1100 m² of exhibition space devoted primarily to the history and culture of immigration in France from the early nineteenth century to the present. A permanent installation, "Benchmarks", contains interactive exhibits presenting immigrant stories in multimedia form. The museum's collections are organized by three main themes: images including photography by Eugène Atget, Gérald Bloncourt, Robert Capa, Yves Jackson, Jean Jacques Pottier, etc., as well as prints, posters, drawings press, cartoons, comic books, audiovisual materials; objects of daily life; and works of art concerning immigration, territory, borders, and roots.
In May 2019 it hosted an event with the artist Adelaide Damoah during Museum Week.
