About me
My name is Maaike Noijons. During my Master’s program in Visual Anthropology at the Westfällische Wilhelms University in Münster I concentrated on the different elements homeconsists of and on the role objects can play in connecting one with home. For my thesis, I researched the temporary element of home with a focus on expat children.
This topic touched my personal life. In the last fourteen years, I moved twice between the Netherlands and Germany. Being an expat brought me into contact with the expat world. I did not only see the process of setting up a home through my own eyes and those of my (expat and non expat) peers, but also through the eyes of my children (now 12 and 13) and those of their peers.
In the fieldwork for my research, the participating children often guided me, online or in person, through their bedrooms. I was surprised by the memories these visits brought up. I could remember the Duran Duran posters I had on my wall, and the bed lamp on which I once put a big piece of pink chewing gum to keep out of my mum’s sight but that then melted onto the lamp, because I forgot a lamp gets hot when it’s on. Memories that I did not know I carried with me. It was because of these small but funny and lovely anecdotes that I decided to make The museum guide to your childhood room. I hope you enjoy it. Do leave your memories in the comment section or reach out at maaike@noijons.com.
Clearly I could only make this guide because of all the stories I was trusted with. Stories, in the form of words, floorplans, photo’s, video and audio that all relate to their (life in their) room. Thank you Harry, Jem, Renske, Rivka, Naz, Renske, Jelmer, Nick, Mathew, Zachery, Sarah, Emma, Joshua, Elodie, Silvie, Muna, Casper, Annnick, Luca, Lola, Maxi, Adriena and Raegan for letting me into this secluded space. I am also grateful to Marjo Peeters for helping me visually shape this guide.
