Ekaterina Protchenko

The Things We Carry is a collection of stories from people who were forced to leave their homes translated into ceramic objects. This transdisciplinary project touches such topics as displacement, identity and connection to home. It tells the stories of displaced persons who are often dehumanised and seen as a faceless group.

A survey was conducted to ask about the sentimental objects people took with them when forcibly leaving their homes and the reasons behind their choices. It also asked for photographs of said objects. These photographs were printed on ten hand-built ceramic vessels using experimental ceramic screen printing. Thus each vessel tells a unique and individual story. The vessels are complemented by a publication – an archive of the stories collected.

The Things We Carry is dedicated to displaced persons, their journeys, their stories, their resilience.