The Memory Crate

The memory crate project was furthered by The Northeast India AV Archive in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Government of Meghalaya, as part of the ‘Meghalaya at 50’ celebration, commemorating the fiftieth year of the birth of Meghalaya as a state. The idea of building a memory crate was forwarded by the archive, as an effort to preserve memory embedded in objects and writings that were kept and locked away in the memory crate which will only be opened fifty years after being locked, in 2072. People were encouraged to write letters to their future selves, family and friends. Some also saved books, magazines, newspapers and other objects from their homes in the crate. 

The Memory Crate being locked on 21st January 2022 (Photo 1, 2 and 3) and Nathaniel Majaw, Project Director of the NEIAV Archive with RJ Nicky J of Radio Mirchi after a radio interview (Photo 4).

The concept of a memory crate associates people with their past, to themselves and to other people from their past. It attaches them to the past or simply reminds them of it, through the stimulation of their memory by the objects, photographs, letters, music CDs and more upon opening in the future. The opening of the crate fifty years after the date of its closing will be an exciting event, with remembrance, comparisons and observation of developments and evolutions in probable order.    

To learn more about other initiatives by the Government of Meghalaya during the celebration of fifty years of statehood, visit meghalayaat50.com