Nations worldwide are experiencing increased social conflict and unrest resulting from the contradictions of globalization, migration, and nationalism. Contemporary France offers a particularly vivid example of these tensions. A multicultural, multi-ethnic society, France promotes both universal human rights and assimilationist policies designed to acculturate minorities regardless of their desires. Such contradictions are explicit in reference to contemporary North African, Pied-Noir, and Harki populations. In addition to varied forms of protest, resistance, and dialog, these minorities use civic and cultural associations – or social clubs – to create spaces for expression of their culture. Some are explicitly constructed as windows into their minority culture for outsiders, others provide these communities a safe venue in which to enact and (re)define their culture and identity sheltered from racist and discriminatory influences. In both cases, they must communicate their beliefs about minority and shared culture, history, and identity, whether their audience is composed of members of the minority community or French society more generally. Though it is often said that associations exist through their members, many also have a physical presence. Associations may own or use an entire building, suite, or office. In other cases, they may share office space part-time, use private residences, or have no fixed point on the geography of the city. Beyond their own walls, some sponsor monuments, museum displays, or traveling exhibitions. The spaces, offices, and buildings in which associations host their activities make nonverbal statements about the associations and their participants and set the scene for how their actions are understood and interpreted. The materials they chose to accompany their activities also influence how those acts are received in society, in ways not always under the control of the association members themselves. Based on fifteen months of fieldwork with Pied-Noir, North African, and Harki cultural associations in two mid-sized French cities, this presentation analyses how such attempts at communication are both circumscribed and fostered by the material culture these associations inhabit and employ.