From left to right:Kirsty Neate, Head of Collections, Matthew Richardson, Curator of Arts and Social History (both Manx Museum), Norbert Meyn, Peter Adey and Chloe Wolley (Culture Vannin)
Music, Migration and Mobility team members Peter Adey and Norbert Meyn visited the Isle of Man in late March 2022 to undertake archival research at the Manx Museum https://manxnationalheritage.im/our-sites/manx-museum/ (an official project partner), visit sites of former internment camps and witness the unveiling of a blue plaque by the Association of Jewish Refugees commemorating the history of Jewish internment on the Island. After the ceremony,Norbert Meyn gave a concert with his Ensemble Émigré, presenting songs by musicians who were interned in Douglas and Ramsey in 1940/41, including music from the satirical cabaret What a Life! (Now available as a free to download RCM Edition (https://www.rcm.ac.uk/singingasong/featuredworks/) by Hans Gál as well as songs by Ferdinand Rauter, Karl Rankl, Peter Gellhorn and Erwin Weiss.
The concert was organised by Jewish Renaissance, which also hosted a tour (https://www.jewishrenaissance.org.uk/enemy-aliens-on-the-isle-of-man) of the Island for its readers, in collaboration with the Insiders/Outsiders festival (https://insidersoutsidersfestival.org) The archival research was focused on music and other cultural activities in the internment camps and will further inform the project‘s story maps (https://www.rcm.ac.uk/singingasong/storymaps/internment/). Peter and Norbert also visited the offices of Culture Vannin (https://culturevannin.im/aboutus/), an organisation promoting and supporting Manx Culture who hosted a visit to the Island in 2017 by students and staff from the Royal College of Music.
