Re-imagining a multicultural Europe: the experience of the R.E.D. (Reframing the European Dream) Carpet

This chapter examines the political and academic debate on multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism, going so far as to argue that a false dichotomy has been drawn between the two. By exploring the narratives through which migration processes - and the mixture of different cultures they promote - are framed in European mainstream media discourse, the authors highlight the ambiguous recognition of difference and respect for the ‘other’ emerging from a cosmopolitanism devoid of multicultural ethos. Taking the art installation ‘R.E.D. (Reframing the European Dream) Carpet’ - resulting from the collaboration between researchers, migrants, first-line practitioners and artists - as a case study, this chapters reflects on the role of art in challenging both the assimilationist logic and the processes of othering. Aesthetic practices show their potential as critical tools able to re-politicize the role of migration and diversity in the multicultural society while fostering the re-imagination of the political order that enables cosmopolitanism.