Challenging prejudices toward refugees : A study of the ‘Humanity House’ in The Hague

Currently, policymakers and practitioners are searching for new strategies to address a variety of issues in the destination countries (not only in Europe but also in developing coun-tries) concerning migrants. In addition, practitioners are also using artistic initiatives to tackle the issues of prejudices, change attitudes and negative perceptions towards them. However, it is still unknown which of these processes are having an impact in the atti-tudinal change. One of the civil society organizations trying to change perceptions in relation to refugees, migrants and asylum seekers is the museum, ‘Humanity House’, through their permanent exhibition. It is an attempt to put people in the shoes of refugees, showing the experiences and paths they follow since the moment they had to leave their homes until their final arrival in Europe. Visitors of the exhibition are not only observers but active partici-pants. This research is focused on whether this as a piece of advocacy through creative means, in contrast to conventional campaigning, TV advertisements or protests and can it create awareness and change prejudices when people are confronted directly by the stories of refu-gees, migrants and asylum seekers. It also looks at the visitor’s social engagement and future actions toward migration issues.