Perception of homeland is a three-part publication documenting the research and visual development of the final outcome — Takes Me Back.
At a time, when there is a prevailing shift in societies and communities around the globe, few objects emotionally qualify and travel miles with the owner. They act as signifiers of their past and perhaps lend to them that ‘perception of home’. Such transitions in connotations of objects, viewed in the context of migrating societies and their memories, identifies a space less spoken of or rather overlooked. The distance covered by these material possessions, gave rise to my area of research, which explores the role of tangible objects in embodying and triggering the intangible memories associated with them.
The project was a part of my Post-graduate design thesis at London College of Communication, University of the Arts.
Hiraeth (Origin: Welsh) Homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the lost or departed. It is a mix of longing, yearning, nostalgia, wistfulness and the earnest desire for the wales of the past. — Gayle Munro
The research intends to analyse the true emotional turn that a migrant goes through at the event of ‘leaving behind’ and thereafter. Visual strategies exploring impressions and remnants in relation to material objects analyse the relationship between the notions of distance, movement and memory. These greater ideas give an insight into the shifting image of the object in a migrant’s life and home.
“If we look at the role, that objects play in causing memory through sensory experiences, objects become the agent, taking those who encounter them on an involuntary journey back through time.” – Andrea Witcomb
Starting out from a simple object-memory relationship to linking it to various factors, which deal with the deeper sub-conscious mind, these books explore and analyse the viewpoints of innumerable migrants.
The research and visual experiments included in the books helped me understand concepts and occurrences that formed the basis of the final outcome. The research establishes connections between them, to comprehend the influences and impacts they have on each other and collectively on society at large.
The books greatly explore the thoughts arising from the connections between human emotions and materiality, with additional dimensions affecting this co-relation — leading to new ideas and concepts. Each chapter critically discusses and articulates one or more of these related viewpoints with the help of existing theories, ongoing practices, primary visual experiments, and analytical viewpoints.
From the Critical Rationale. Read the full rationale here