Fragile (hi)stories: Materialities of care in everyday life

This paper 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 conduits 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.