Scholar Tiya Miles has written, “Things become bearers of memory and information, especially when enhanced by stories that expand their capacity to carry meaning.” Material culture is intimately connected with memory, both individual and collective. Family heirlooms make one recall a deceased loved one, a souvenir serves as a memento from a trip, or an artifact can become a mnemonic device for an important era of a community’s history. Objects are tangible reminders of the past, and shape our thinking about the present and future. Human memory may fade while things live on. One single artifact may represent multiple memories and meanings.

“Memory and Material Culture” asks how do objects embody memory? How can this change over time? What stories are embedded within everyday items? Do these material memories recover forgotten history? Do they align with existing collective narratives? How does cultural heritage manifest through tangible objects? How do power dynamics influence the creation and interpretation of material culture? What is the interaction of memory and materiality- do objects themselves have a memory?

The growing scholarship on the interplay of material culture and memory offers new avenues to explore the creation, interaction, and interpretation of artifacts. “Memory and Material Culture” encourages scholars from a variety of disciplines to consider how remembering, or forgetting, interacts with tangible things. From archaeology to art history, performance studies to ethnic studies, we welcome work from diverse fields to explore material culture and memory’s interrelation.

Our keynote speaker is: Erica Ciallela

Erica Ciallela is an Instruction & Outreach Librarian at Schlesinger Library for the History of Women in America. Erica comes from the Morgan Library & Museum where she was a Belle da Costa Greene Curatorial Fellow as well as co-curator on Belle da Costa Greene, A Librarian's Legacy. Before the Morgan she worked at the Prudence Crandall Museum in Canterbury, Connecticut where she worked on reinterpreting the National Historic Site, bringing to light the stories of its African American students in the 1830s. Invested in seeing institutions tell more inclusive histories, she believes that looking at archival collections in non-traditional ways will help provide opportunities for sharing more complete histories.

Our emerging scholar presenters include:

Esme Krohn, "Witch Kitsch: An Exploration of Daniel Low & Co.’s Salem Witch Souvenir Spoon”

Brielle Pizzala, “Amnesia of “Chinese Ornament” in Royal Worcester Porcelains in the 1870s”

Dominique Stringer, “Material Memories of Jewish Danzig in the Jewish Museum”

Noah Williams, “Counter-mapping Black Mobility: Visualizing the Green Book’s Alternative Geographies”

Mollie Wohlforth, “Luxurious Exceptions: Empress Josephine, Cashmere Shawls and the Construction of Napoleonic Visual Identity”

Registration is through Eventbrite and the event will take place via Zoom Webinar.