Reconstructing Home: Creating a Sense of Familiarity Through Sentimental Objects

Image
Screenshot of 2024 Group 4 virtual exhibit
Exhibit type
Creators

Group 4

Description

The lives of many refugees often become documented and transformed into mere numbers and data. The datafication of refugees and their lives often results in the dehumanization of these refugees. In our exhibition, we examine Vietnamese and Greco-Roman refugee artifacts to examine how these artifacts helped refugees create a new meaning of “home” while they are displaced. By addressing and redefining what “home” means to refugees, we hope to humanize these stories and help others see them as more than just a piece of data.

In addition to humanizing the stories of these refugees, we are also analyzing the ways they are memory-keeping through this collection of artifacts. Holding onto pieces of their previous lives and living in the hope that one day they will reconnect with their old selves through this idea of memory keeping for these objects.