2025/12/31 by Omar Khaled Abdelrahman, Emma Banister, Daniel P. Hampson · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Crafts, Textile, and Design #Geographies of human-animal interactions #Posthumanist Ethics and Activism
paper · doi:10.1177/00380385251401542
openalex created_date 2025/12/31 · openalex publication_date 2025/12/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
This article explores how everyday inherited or purchased old objects facilitate material affinities within and beyond familial settings. Drawing on ethnographic research incorporating in-depth object interviews, we highlight how care and curation are intertwined and shaped by the intersections of individuals’ perceptions of objects’ value and their personal values. Our findings offer insight into how objects function as mediators through which to demonstrate care and values, highlighting three ways this is manifested: kinship ties , surrogate objects and the preservation of societal histories . In doing so, we contribute to wider understandings of material affinities, emphasising how care and curatorial practices inform and charge objects’ abilities to connect people to meaningful (hi)stories.