100objects

What objects did the refugees who flight in Greece after August 1922 bring with them?

Were they the most valuable, the most useful, or those most meaningful to them?

How many of these objects have survived to this day?

What is their value for their present-day custodians?

These four questions formed the foundation of the research project Objects in Motion – 100objects. The project sought not only to identify the objects themselves, but also to explore the reasons why their owners chose them to accompany them on their journey into exile, the uses and meanings these objects held in the early years of resettlement, and the trajectories they followed throughout the 20th century—up to the present, where they survive in the homes of descendants.

The objects that travelled with the refugee populations during their forced displacement and have been preserved to this day are not merely family heirlooms from the lost homelands. Each of them conveys a distinct cultural and social story—about their original owners and the societies they lived in, both in their old and in their new homelands.

The 100objects identified, studied, and documented by the project’s research team were presented in a bilingual digital exhibition.