What does a small reducing from a grandmother’s plant, rigorously wrapped and carried throughout borders, say in regards to the migrant expertise? For Iranian illustrator and writer Roshi Rouzbehani, such objects are extra than simply belongings – they’re emotional anchors, holding reminiscences, id, and connections to family members left behind.

Her newest mission, Migrated Keepsakes, brings these tales to life, exploring the private significance of objects carried by Iranian ladies as they embark on journeys of migration, displacement, and reinvention.

The seed for Migrated Keepsakes was planted in 2011 when Rouzbehani herself left Iran. Restricted in what she might carry along with her, the few keepsakes she carried started to tackle profound emotional weight over time. “They weren’t simply reminders of dwelling however emotional anchors, carrying items of my id and connections to family members,” Rouzbehani says.

This private reflection led to a much bigger query: What keepsakes did different Iranian ladies carry – and what tales did these objects maintain?

To seek out out, Rouzbehani put out a easy query on social media: “What pointless factor would you by no means go away behind attributable to emotional attachment?” The responses she obtained have been overwhelmingly private, typically surprising, and at all times highly effective.

From jewelry handed down via generations to letters, spices, and even vegetation, each object carried its personal emotional freight — symbols of affection, loss, defiance, and survival.

Shifting the lens on Iranian ladies’s migration

For Rouzbehani, specializing in Iranian ladies’s tales was important. Migration narratives usually centre on politics, coverage, and statistics. Private tales, significantly these of ladies, are both neglected or decreased to footnotes.

“For a lot of Iranian ladies, migration is not nearly crossing borders; it is an existential rupture,” she explains. “It means forsaking household, traditions, language, and a way of belonging.”

By specializing in on a regular basis objects, Migrated Keepsakes reframes these experiences, drawing consideration to the emotional layers of migration. Every object turns into a tangible reminder of a life left behind, a silent witness to the upheaval, and a bit of continuity in an unfamiliar new world.

“Keepsakes function emotional lifelines, preserving what needed to be left behind,” says Rouzbehani. “By telling these tales via objects, the e book turns into a collective archive of Iranian ladies’s migration experiences — profoundly private, emotional, and human.”

Mixing illustration and narrative

The e book itself is a fragile stability of visible storytelling and written narrative, with Rouzbehani’s distinct illustration type giving type to those private relics. Her strategy emphasises simplicity, usually exhibiting objects in isolation, both floating on the web page or held within the palms of their house owners. This visible language reinforces each the separation from dwelling and the item’s significance in a brand new context.

“I needed to remain as true as attainable to every memento, specializing in how the ladies described them,” says Rouzbehani. “Illustration goes past mere illustration — it has the ability to evoke feelings and create a deep sense of connection.”

To seize the emotional weight of every object, Rouzbehani targeted on the tiniest imperfections, reminiscent of worn edges, pale engravings, and the patina of use that turns unusual objects into vessels of historical past and id. These refined visible cues invite readers to think about the palms which have held them and the journeys they’ve witnessed.

Some objects — significantly these belonging to ladies who have been political prisoners — carried even higher symbolic weight. “Conveying each ache and resilience of their objects was probably the most significant elements of this mission,” Rouzbehani displays.

A tapestry of reminiscence, id, and resilience

Because the tales gathered, sure themes started to emerge. Identification and resilience have been ever-present threads, with keepsakes performing as each extensions of self and reminders of energy. Nostalgia, love, and loss additionally wove their means via many tales, with keepsakes turning into each consolation and burden, reminding their house owners of what was misplaced and proof of survival.

“Keepsakes maintain historical past, reminiscence, and emotion,” Rouzbehani explains. “In a brand new and unfamiliar atmosphere, they supply continuity — a tangible hyperlink to the previous whereas navigating the uncertainties of the current.”

By engaged on the e book, Rouzbehani’s personal perspective on migration advanced. “It strengthened that migration is not only a bodily act; it is an emotional and existential transformation,” she says. “Carrying a bit of dwelling is not nearly a bodily memento — it is about preserving who we’re and the place we come from.”

Constructing neighborhood via storytelling

Migrated Keepsakes is at present crowdfunding on Kickstarter, a platform Rouzbehani turned to after a profitable marketing campaign for her earlier e book, 50 Inspiring Iranian Ladies. “Kickstarter permits creators to attach immediately with their viewers, making supporters really feel invested within the mission’s success,” she says.

The response thus far has been overwhelmingly constructive, with sturdy assist from each the Iranian diaspora and wider artistic communities. “It is heartening to see folks come collectively to have a good time these tales and assist protect them for future generations,” says Rouzbehani.

However for her, the e book is simply the start. She envisions Migrated Keepsakes as a platform for wider dialog — one that might develop into workshops, exhibitions, and panel discussions the place others are invited to share their very own migration tales. “That is greater than a e book,” she says. “It is a dialog starter round migration and id.”

An enduring legacy

Finally, Rouzbehani hopes Migrated Keepsakes will resonate on a number of ranges. For Iranian migrants, she desires it to supply recognition and validation, and for others, she hopes it sparks empathy and a deeper understanding of the emotional complexities of migration.

“Greater than something, I need readers to see the shared humanity in these tales and perceive the highly effective position that keepsakes play in preserving id and belonging,” says Rouzbehani.

As for what’s subsequent, she’s already interested by future tasks that proceed to centre ladies’s voices and discover the intersections of tradition, reminiscence, and id. “That is solely the start,” she says. “There are such a lot of tales nonetheless ready to be instructed.”