Vanessa Tan
Sunday, December 3rd, 2006My Family-Celebration and Culture
When I think of my family history, I find myself evoking several feelings all at once. I think of celebration and a strong sense of cultural identity. I wanted to incorporate both themes in my family history collage, but I didn’t initially know how to approach it. Having immigrated to the United States from China before I was born, my family brought with them a microcosm of society and life in China. Like many immigrant families, they felt an awkwardness in trying to accomplish two things at once: preserving traditional customs and cultural habits, while also adjusting to and adopting an American way of living.
I am proud of my family for successfully achieving a balance between being open to the ways of American society while also maintaining values and traditions that they grew up with. This collage is designed to illustrate their success in sustaining Chinese cultural rituals and customs. In the lower left quarter of my collage is a family photo taken in 1978. It is obviously representative of my family, but it also has another meaning. My grandmother, who is sitting in the middle of the photograph, holding one of my cousins, ran a photography studio with my grandfather when they were married in Taishan. She is a very important figure in my family because she raised her seven children, in addition to many of her grandchildren, including me. After my grandfather died early in their marriage, she worked and supported her large family, so I wanted to show that she was a central part of my family history.
Above the family photo is a clipping of the title of the Sing Tao Daily Newspaper, which I consider an important connection between Chinese culture and American life. When my parents came from China in 1986, they felt like aliens in another world, without any way to communicate with anybody other than relatives. They were generally unaware of what went on in the world, or even in their own neighborhood. This newspaper not only allowed them to know what was going on in a time of general confusion but kind of welcomed them into American society.
In the upper left corner I have attached tea leaves because tea is an important part of everyday Chinese life. I don’t think I have woken up even one morning without smelling tea upon entering the kitchen. All my family members are avid drinkers of tea, so it was necessary to include this everyday staple in my collage.
The most important holiday in China is the Lunar New Year, so I attached a red money envelope to represent it. Giving money envelopes is a New Year tradition in China that has existed for thousands of years. It is intended to be an exchange of not just money but prosperity and luck for the year ahead, so it truly encapsulates the spirit of the holiday. The streamers and glitter show the bustle and excitement of that time of year. Since it is the major holiday of the Chinese people, the preparation for and the celebration of it extends its time period to about two months.
A business card of the restaurant Magic Wok is in the lower right corner. This restaurant was a business that my father and his brothers (my uncles) ran for two years, in 1990 and 1991. It represents the opportunity that the United States offers to everybody: the opportunity to create your own business and make a living off of it. Even though it did not last, it was a memorable experience for both my father and my uncles. I included my Chinese signature at the bottom because I wanted to put something personal relating to me as a person of Chinese background.
I really enjoyed making this collage because I learned more about my family and about Chinese culture. I looked through old photo albums and talked to my parents about it, so it was a fun experience. I hope that what comes across to viewers of my collage is a sense of celebration and culture.
