Reclaiming Humanity: Humanity and Mythology in Refugeehood

When a person is forcefully displaced from their home country, their humanity is also stripped away from them. Every memory they once had, every family member, friend, and all of their belongings, gone, due to circumstances that they cannot control. However, even during these difficult times, refugees can exert autonomy through seeking a sense of self and normalcy in intentional artifacts. Rather than viewing the artifacts as just objects, we want them to be narrative tools that demonstrate a reclamation of humanity within the contexts of refugeehood, rejecting the stereotype of refugees solely characterized as tragic victims. Every item tells a story from a different perspective of a refugee’s life, from items brought from before the displacement, to items created during and after the displacement, to items kept while fleeing displacement, each of which carries a different part of one’s humanity.