This is a traditional handmade Burmese dress that my mom brought from Thailand, and this dress tells about the culture identity and story of my family’s immigration to the US. In 2013, the USCIS referred for my family to be able to fly internationally and be able to settle in the US. That opportunity has made us residents of the US for 13 years and opened a profounding new life in the US. My mom and dad immigrated from Thailand to the US when I was just 3 years old while they were 23 and 25. They left Thailand in hopes to start a better life in the US, but also primarily because of the territorial dispute between multi ethnics located within Thailand, my family never settled in Myanmar (Burma) even though we’re ethnically burmese because of the ongoing civil war between the national military and its citizens that still exists today. With what little my mom was able to bring to her trip to the US, she brought what holds value to her and her heart. Till now, this dress was brought as an artifact to remember my mom’s cultural heritage and as a way to represent the beauty of my culture and it holds value in what I represent for my entire life. My mom bringing this dress all across the world holds significant symbolization of capturing cultural heritage and the deep emotional sense of passing down shared identity through culture.

– ZM

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant