Humans have always used objects to describe and identify social events, phenomena and behaviours. While objects themselves can transmit certain types of information on their own, different types of meanings are generated when humans interact with them.

Objects and their meanings are relevant today for scientists in fields as diverse as anthropology, sociology, philosophy, psychology, art and design. Using a visual, participative, ethnographic approach, my work is focused on understanding how people construct and project new meaning onto objects in the midst of migration.

How do objects reflect, carry, and narrate the stories of life in the midst of the largest migration crisis in modern world history? In migration, life is distilled, and the objects that define our lives are whittled down to those we can physically carry with us. Why do we use certain objects, and for what? Where and when do we use certain objects? What do we want to express through the use of these objects? How do objects influence our identity? 

The answers to these questions can be found along the borders of Venezuela and Colombia, an area through which more than four million Venezuelans have passed in recent years.