2021

The Family Archives: Finding Stories, Memories and Hauntings

The Act of Writing, York University

My family’s archive of photographs, videos and memorabilia is very extensive. For as far as I can remember, my family would swap stories after dinner over a cup of cha (tea). These stories range from funny to sad to very confusing. I have self-proclaimed myself to be a hoarder of memories, so I try very hard to memorize every story and plot them into my imaginary timeline or write them down somewhere.  There are so many stories of my family that are surprising and confusing; most are fragmented.

Some themes that I am keeping in mind are haunting and memories, oral history, and storytelling. Haunting is a big part of my research. Avery Gordon (1997) discusses haunting in the sociological context. However, what I find most interesting is how she actually discusses actual ghosts (not metaphorical ones) and how memory can play into hauntings (i.e., intergenerational memories). I think of memory in a variety of forms. I am combining both storytelling and oral history to create either a linear narrative of family

stories/histories or disorienting stories that fragment.

This book contains a series of 10 photographs from my family’s archive. There are two versions of this book. The AR version uses augmented reality to overlay the texts. I utilize augmented reality to create layers of seeing/unseen. Both versions uses the same texts. Whichever book you decide to read, it is best to take in this experience with a cup of cha.