Home Is Project
CCI’s Summer 2020 Project, titled “Home Is…”, examines the concept of home for Chinese adoptees. It highlights the diversity and complexity associated with participants’ perceptions of home. The project also showcases the geography of home by displaying changes in participants’ locations over space and time.
Mapping Our Homelands
In the video, the year in the top right corner is the year in which the participant was adopted. It is important to note that not all participants were adopted as infants, therefore the year is not necessarily an indication of their age.
This part of the project visually displays participants’ immigration trajectories as a result of international adoption. It also exhibits their spatial distribution within and between countries to illustrate the global scale.
The geographical component of this project is significant because Chinese adoptees are part of the Asian diaspora. This transnational identity plays an important role in participants’ lived experiences and thus, their feelings and opinions on what home means to them.
This map displays the provinces in which 62 international Chinese adoptees are from.
This map displays the locations of 62 international Chinese adoptees worldwide.
What does home mean to you?
This part of the project explores adoptees’ sense of place and their personal relationship with the idea of home. Some participants have settled on a definition, whereas others are still in the process of answering that question for themselves.
The responses are a mixture of written descriptions, photographs, videos, and audio recordings. Some submissions express conflict and hardships, others convey clarity and stability. All of them represent the individual truths of Chinese adoptees.
Want To Get Involved?
If you are interested in participating in either one or both parts of this project, please click the buttons below! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to contact me at ccisummerintern2020@gmail.com.
Note: For both parts of the project, there will be a data collection period. Therefore, your submitted information will not be featured in the project right away.
What does home mean to you?
“What does home mean to you?” explores adoptees’ sense of place through examining their meaning of home. I am looking for participants to submit either a photo, written description, audio recording, or video that answers the question “What does home mean to you?”
Mapping Our Homelands
“Mapping Our Homelands” visually displays both the geographic trajectories of individual adoptees, as well as the spatial distribution of Chinese adoptees worldwide. I am looking for participants to submit where they were adopted from and where their adoptive families live and/or where they live now.
behind the project
Shelley Rottenberg, Project coordinator
Hello! My name is Shelley Rottenberg. I was adopted from Hangzhou, Zhejiang and I now live in Southern Ontario. I studied Geography and Environmental Science in my undergrad and did my Masters in Human Geography. For my undergraduate thesis, I conducted research on the Lived Experiences of Chinese Adoptees in Canada. Since doing this work, my desire to connect with other transracial Asian adoptees has continued to grow. In the future, I hope to do more adoption-related work, as the topic is close to my heart.
Carrie Doung, visual designer
Hi there, my name is Carrie. I was adopted from Sanshui in Guangdong Province at nine years old. From surviving as a child in China and being raised in San Francisco, CA, my childhood has profoundly shaped my perspectives as an adult and visual artist. It has also deepened my visual sensitivity as a designer with compassion and empathy. My professional background ranges from print production, graphic design, and project management in both corporate and freelance settings.