Amaanat (Inheritance)

Curated by Nirmal Raja

In Urdu, amaanat translates to "inheritance" or a very special belonging handed down from one generation to the next. 

Nirmal Raja is a Somerville based interdisciplinary artist whose work is greatly inspired by objects and the stories they hold. She sees them as silent witnesses to our life. Some are  intimate and personal and others relate to our relationships. Some bear witness to history, and others are remnants of a lovely or painful experience. Poet Elif Shafak describes this phenomenon – "We carve our dreams into objects large and small. The emotions we hold but fail to honor, we try to express through the things we pass on, trusting that they will outlive us when we are gone, trusting that they will carry something of us through the layers of time, like water seeping through rocks. It is our way of saying to the next generations, those we will never get to meet, ---"Remember us". This exhibition will include sculptural works by Raja spanning over a decade that tease out meaning held in objects. Raja investigates material culture's power to convey cultural nuances, familial histories, and the impact of migration on memory.

In addition to Raja's artwork, the exhibition will include an associated online archive of crowdsourced immigrant stories revolving around objects. An immigrant's relationship to objects is especially unique. Depending on whether we were refugees fleeing for our lives or a choice we made in search for a better life, the objects we bring with us and pass on to the next generation have stories to tell.

Amaanat invites participation from community members. Please contact Nirmal to get involved: nirmalinbetween@gmail.com