About the project

The International Council for Maritime Museums (ICMM) Maritime Refugee Project is a collaboration of museums around the world which explores in depth, the historic and current stories of maritime refugees.

ICMM institution members were surveyed in 2023 for collections of related artefacts and their interest in engagement. The results showed there is huge breadth and depth to collections from ‘Vietnamese boat people’, to Cuban refugees, Jewish WW2 refugees, WW1 ‘White Russian’ refugees, those fleeing enslavement in the US, and even very early examples of refugees in Britain dating back to the Napoleonic Wars.

With the theme of maritime refugees at the forefront of the news on an almost daily basis, the project will look not only at the past but the present and future to consider the challenges and reasons for these escapes. There is not only historical but living memory of large and intimate exodus throughout the coasts of the world which play a part in the larger story. Some of us may have forgotten our own people were refugees once, and those who remember express the need for grace and acceptance of the current waves of immigration.

The themes of the project will explore the causations behind these movements over time, be they to escape persecution, conflict, hunger, human rights violations, political disorder, or climate change from non-arable land to rising sea levels. Maritime humanitarian policies and law enforcement on the seas as well as at ports of entry will be studied as well as the cultural, political, and religious transitions of the millions of refugees try to adapt and survive in their new countries; the boat is just the middle of the story. Historically and currently, we will look at which agencies are integral to this story from life before the sea to crossing the sea to landing on the shore and beyond.

We will consider whose voices are privileged in the telling of these stories, and if, how and when we “collect” and express these narratives as well as the related artefacts, oral histories, and vessels. Finally, we are working to determine the manifestation of the project, such as a shared exhibition, publication, website, conference, or all of the above.
We are hopeful that by looking towards the past we will better understand the challenges of the present.

As we start this project, our working definition of ‘refugee’ is:
A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries. Find out more about what a refugee is here.

Project Timeline

  • September 2022 ICMM Halifax meeting where the idea for this project was inspired by the presentation The Materiality of the Great Escape Over the Baltic Sea – Anna Arnberg & Mirja Arnshav, Swedish MM.
  • April 2023 ICMM sent out a survey to over 100-member museums to inquire if their collections included anything to do with maritime refugees as well as their interest in participating in the project. We received over 40 response from maritime museums alone as well as others outside of ICMM (Museum of Jewish Heritage, Yale University, National Park Service USA, etc.)
  • November 2023 Core Advisory Group Meetings Commenced, Chaired by Christina Connett Brophy (Mystic Seaport, US)
  • January 2024 Core Advisory Group Meeting
  • March 2024 Exploratory meeting with The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
  • March 2024 Project representation, National Academy of Sciences workshop in Washington, DC
  • March 2024 Presentation to ICMM Executive Council by Christina Brophy
  • June 2024 Core Advisory Group Meeting
  • August 2024 Christina Brophy was a keynote speaker on this project for the International Maritime Historical Association in Busan, South Korea
  • September 2024 ICMM conference in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Christina Brophy led a panel discussion including Enric García, Museu Marítim de Barcelona; Roland Leikauf, Australian National Maritime Museum; Mirja Arnshav and Anna Arnberg, Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums.
  • September 2024 Het Scheepvaartmuseum and ICMM hosted a public evening event in Amsterdam on the project. Yara Said and Peter Van Dongen, both artists, addressed how they came to work around the topic of maritime refugees and discussed the inspiration and goals with each other. They reflected on how cultural institutions can engage audiences with the experiences of refugees.

Responses to Initial ICMM Survey and Engagement

Core Advisory Team Member Museums *
Non ICMM Members #

  • * Australian National Maritime Museum
  • *Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
  • Dalian Maritime University
  • Estonian Maritime Museum
  • Forum Marinum Foundation
  • Friends of the Museum of Aegean Boat-building and Maritime Crafts
  • * Galata Museo del Mare
  • German Maritime Museum / Leibniz Institute for Maritime History
  • Het Scheepvaartmuseum
  • Hong Kong Maritime Museum
  • The Mariners’ Museum and Park
  • Maritime Museum of Denmark
  • Maritime Museum of San Diego
  • Maritime Museum of the Atlantic/Nova Scotia Museum
  • Maritime Museum Rotterdam
  • Maritime Museum, Liverpool
  • Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network (MMHN)
  • Musée national de la Marine
  • *# Museum of Jewish Heritage
  • Museo Arqueológico de La Boca – Museo Conventillo Marjan Grum
  • *Museu Marítim de Barcelona
  • Museu Marítimo de Sesimbra
  • *Mystic Seaport Museum
  • Nantucket Historical Association
  • *Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums
  • *Peabody Essex Museum
  • *Royal Museums Greenwich (National Maritime Museum, UK)
  • Schiffahrtsmuseum der oldenburgischen Unterweser
  • South Street Seaport Museum
  • *# Yale University

Expected Project Outcomes

  • Attract new members to join ICMM
  • International digital resource of refugee vessels and related material
  • International online Maritime Refugee Exhibition with an option to print or digitally display at partner institutions
  • Unique ICMM project logo for display with related materials in partner museums with link to the ICMM Maritime Refugees website and exhibition
  • Online Refugee Art exhibition with online catalogue
  • Publish policies, guidelines, and term definitions on ICMM website for collection and stewardship of maritime refugee vessels and related material
  • 2026 ICMM Congress project panel discussions and presentations
  • Stand-alone congress in 2027 online/in-person/hybrid
  • 2028 ICMM Congress to include 2 additional days exclusive to the project
  • Dedicated issue of Mainsheet: A Multidisciplinary Journal for Maritime Studies

If you are interested in participating or learning more about the project please contact Christina Connett Brophy: ccbrophy@sdmaritime.org