MAKE YOUR OWN ARTIFACT
MATERIALISING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES THROUGH CLAY
About the Interface
Make Your Own Artifact was developed as part of Expedition In Situ?, extending mixed-media artist Michelle Andrea’s exploration of migration, cultural heritage, looted artifacts, and identity into a participatory making experience.
Led by Michelle Andrea and ceramicist Bronte of Bodea Ceramics, participants were invited to imagine themselves—or something from their personal history—as an artifact.
Using clay, they translated memories, emotions, migration experiences, and culturally significant objects into physical forms, following a process inspired by the questions underlying Michelle’s artistic practice.
Rather than discussing identity only intellectually, participants were given a material language through which to explore it.
The activity transformed personal experiences into tangible objects, allowing participants to see their own histories through the metaphor of an artifact carrying traces of origin, movement, memory, and meaning.
