Why do some objects become so

↑ Mementos in a vitrine

Why do some objects become so important?

Our possessions are associated with observations, sensory perceptions and memories. When moving to a new home, certain objects can be instrumental in helping us to settle in to the new place and create the feeling of cosiness. On the other hand, it may be difficult to decide which items to take along and which ones to leave behind.

Docent Eerika Koskinen-Koivisto is leading the SENSOMEMO research project funded by the Academy of Finland (2020–2024), which focuses on the material aspects of daily life.

“In this project, we investigate meanings related to mementos as autobiographical materiality, in which personal memories and artefacts intertwine,” Koskinen-Koivisto explains. The case studies of the project explore what the significant artefacts are and why certain items “stick” with us and become important in the course of life.

The SENSOMEMO project collaborates with the Finnish Heritage Agency, the National Museum of Finland, and the TAKO acquisition, documentation and collection collaboration network for professionally managed museums.

↓ A chest used in wartime evacuation and inherited from one generation to another

↑ Useful and useless items on a table

↑ Eerika Koskinen-Koivisto