“A family history is always representative of something larger than itself: the social, political, and cultural shifts experienced by the geography in which it is set engineers its sudden detours. We have to follow its routes.”Skye Arundhati Thomas, Monograph on Homeground: An Exhibition of the works of Saju Kunhan
How often do you think about the objects that have been in your family for generations? Do you think about them at all? Do you ever wonder about the memories they hold and the stories they are witness to? What role do these objects play in your family histories?
In the early 2010s, historian and author Aanchal Malhotra was researching for her critically acclaimed first book ‘Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory’ when she came across the myriad objects people possess and cherish for the memories and personal histories associated with them. Although her book was focused on the history of Partition through personal objects and family heirlooms, Malhotra wanted to document and create an archive of the innumerable other objects unrelated to Partition in people’s possession that she came across during her five-year-long research for the book.
This will to preserve South Asia’s personal and family histories led to the creation of The Museum of Material Memory — a crowdsourced online platform co-founded and curated by Aanchal Malhotra and her childhood friend Navdha Malhotra where people can submit stories and personal histories related to the objects in their possession that are from or before the 1970s. The Museum grows with every story that people submit, and the curators work with the contributors to create a narrative about the personal and familial histories associated with these objects. Through these stories, each entry in the archive reveals not just a history of objects and the people they belong to, but also unfolds generational narratives about the tradition, culture, customs, conventions, habits, language, society, geography, and history of South Asia.
The Museum of Material Memory is not the only archival project of its kind. In recent years, many historians, curators, and artists have considered and utilised archives and archival materials as powerful instruments in their work to engage with themes of personal and familial histories, relationships, and connections through objects, oddities, images, paraphernalia, and memorabilia that have been passed down through generations within families over time.
Museum of Memories — a similar archival project — curated by Aakriti Chandervanshi, Charulatha Dasappa, and Mallika Dabke takes a similar approach, but looks at heritage through the lens of gender and how interpretations of “heritage” informs gender identities. According to the curators, “the project is not a history lesson on heritage, but a repository of stories that look forwards and backwards at once, trying to place themselves in larger narratives to make sense of themselves”. Made possible with a grant from The British Council - Heritage Grant to engage young people in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the project is a collection of curious objects, oddities, and personal/familial histories associated with them from individuals aged 18 to 25.
The collection includes objects like curious corked glass bottles with whimsical arrangements of celluloid figurines strung with plastic beads and ribbon flowers made in the 1920s which were passed down four generations of a family; a miniature model made entirely from juvenile spatial memory; and time-worn heirloom textiles like a sari that belonged to a contributor’s grandmother which inspired her to write a poem about the act of wearing the sari and feeling connected to a lineage of women who strove hard to assert and accept themselves. The project aims to break the pattern of gendered histories and selective inheritance by looking at these objects and memories through the lens of gender.
Similarly, Kolkata-based historian, curator, and archivist Srilagna Majumdar’s archival project ‘Memorabilia’ focuses on family histories of South Asia through objects individuals have left behind — material memory, textual documents, oral histories, and stories.
“A person’s life is ot just of their own but goes on to influence, change, and alter the lives of many others, over time,” Srilagna says. “My curatorial approach towards building Memorabilia is rooted in the belief that every individual’s history contributes to the broader social and political fabric; the aim here is to inspire every layperson around me to embark on their own conservation journeys within their means and capacities.”
"Memory has its own language, its own texture, its own secret melody, its own archeology and its own limitations: it too can be wounded, stolen and shamed; but it is up to us to rescue it and save it from becoming cheap, banal, and sterile."Elie Wiesel
At the heart of the ‘Memorabilia’ project is objects left behind by Srilagna’s grandfather Shyamal Kumar Majumdar, a banker who strived to turn the mundanity of his life into a ledger of art, music, sports, and knowledge practices in the 1970s and 80s. He was a student of Commerce and worked in The Chartered Bank (now Standard Chartered Bank) from 1965 to 1994. His interests varied from the study of History and English literature, Indian classical music, photography, the collection of vinyl records, and fountain pens. Although the project began with this family archive of Shyamal’s possessions, it has since grown into an online, accessible archive of crowdsourced stories of people’s treasured possessions, memories, and nostalgia united by a common goal — to preserve the past in all forms.
What sets Memorabilia apart from other archival projects of its kind is the interactive, accessible aspect of the project. Through the Memorabilia platform, Srilagna regularly conducts online workshops that equip individuals with the tools and techniques of preserving everything from photographs and letters to antique equipment and textiles, documenting marginal and difficult histories and other critical themes.
South Asians — both in South Asia and the diasporas — have a long history of hoarding items and objects. We like collecting things, accumulating things over time — whether for their aesthetic, perceived, or nostalgic values — until we struggle to find somewhere to put away all that we possess. Often, these possessions are eventually disposed off as scrap, or lost to wear and tear of time. It doesn’t have to be that way. While hoarding — the act of obsessively accumulating objects — is something we should all be wary of, the act of mindfully conserving and archiving prized heirloom objects and personal/familial possessions allows us to locate ourselves within the historical context of our locales, and through this act of contextualising and locating ourselves, connect to our roots.
These archival projects show us how.
Experience The Museum of Material Memory here.
Experience the Museum of Memories here.
Experience Memorabilia here.
If you enjoyed reading this, here's more from Homegrown:
Aakriti Chandervanshi’s Archival Photoseries Examines The Hidden Inner Selves Of Women
The 'Museum Of The Mundane' Is Archiving Personal Histories Through Materiality & Spaces
An Indo-British Archival Project Dissects The Interconnection Between Objects & Home