Mum's Chest: A Migration Story and Narrative Legacy from Seoul to Ankara

Abstract

In this study, I have examined the history of my mother Naile Binark's family heirloom Korean ornamental chest, which spans three generations, as a cultural material. I have traced the narrative heritage carried by the chest in the migratory journey of my mother's family from Russia to Korea and Turkey through historical studies, photo album images, and personal narratives. I conveyed the fact that objects create narrative heritage in our lives apart from their utility value and functions by telling the place of the Korean ornamental chest in the lives of three generations. My mother's Korean chest was donated to the Korean Cultural Center in Ankara after my mother passed away and continues to tell its story there.