In Italy’s current climate, it’s extremely difficult to talk about immigration without entering a fierce debate that burns across the generational, socio-economic and political spectrum. With the lines drawn deep, how could Terre des Hommes – an NGO committed to the defense of human rights - create a narrative free of bias that would lead to education and not subjective opinion based on bias and fake news.

By sharing their work in the field of reconstructing the identities of the missing victims through scientific disciplines, they hoped to find a way to bring empathy and trust to the to the public.

MUSA - was born as a permanent and definitive institutional Museum in the heart of Milan. This museum combines scientific, archaeological, and criminalistic disciplines to tell the true story of individual victims of migrant crossings, and how organizations like Terre des Hommes piece together victims' stories to re-unite their bodies with their loved ones, understand the why, how, and who of the biggest tragedy of our times – because we can learn from every story and ultimately create a better future for all. Visitors to the museum can explore each story without prejudice and only with the facts presented along the path. Applying science to human rights through a trusted institutional medium like a museum is the best way to disseminate truth and achieve justice.

In a world of fragmented media, where articles, videos and social threads are served up in biased recommendation silos, the biggest challenge was to find a new medium to educate the youth of Italy on this topic in a way they space where in the eyes of the public fact was still fact. Research showed us that one of the oldest institutions of all still held sway in the public’s mind when it came to fact-based education: The Museum. Museums come above news organizations, the government and social media as a trusted source of information digestion. Once we had the medium, we needed to find the perfect partner to help us bring something of this scale to life, we found this in The University of Milan, who had access to 1000s of artifacts, equipment and human remains (over-1000 skeletons) to help us tell the story in the most detailed way.

To create MUSA, Terre Des Hommes and Milan University partnered together to secure a permanent venue in the heart of Milan. The space has 6 rooms, featuring over 2200 artifacts and covers over 400 square metres. MUSA takes people on a journey of interactive and video-based storytelling using thousands of real artifacts that can be explored and investigated. The entrance cost is free, and it was promoted through special brand identity that was placed around the city to raise awareness of its location. MUSA opened its doors on 22 November 2022 and was immediately picked up by mainstream media outlets across Europe. Terre Des Hommes chairwoman was asked to speak on a number of TV programmes reaching an audience of millions.

Over 130 earned main-stream media articles published across Europe

Over 100 schools across Lombardy have added Musa to their Curriculum of learning

Tickets were fully booked out for over 3 months

Due to huge popularity, a new approved expansion of 2000 square metres has now commenced construction

3,6M impressions