Cherishing objects for the future and creating culture from objects to heal from Displacement

Abstract (English)

Identity is not as simple or unproblematic as we believe. Perhaps, rather than thinking of identity as an already achieved fact, which new cultural practices then portray, we should think of identity as a 'production,' which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within rather than outside, representation. This viewpoint calls into question the very authority and validity that the term 'cultural identity' claims ( Sarup, 2005: 23)

This Panel explores identity through displacement as refugees, orphans or migrates and the role objects play to keep one's culture and Inalienable wealth in family collections. Motivated by the concept of Cultural Theory which explains that culture can form through a collection of objects to retain identity of displaced individuals and the length of effort people take to conserve and preserve their being, existence and history for future generations Contemporary cultural theory argues that we inhabit culture in the sense that we share a certain amount of knowledge and understanding about our environment with others ( Hall, 1999) The effort of cleaning, polishing and even modifying objects expressed through conservation is as cleaning the temple of God as a sign of godliness to form traditions and respect for the sacrifices of displaced family members as the generations after them.