Cultural artifact is a social science term that is used in sociology, anthropology, and ethnology. Cultural artifact provides information about social make up, technological processes, and economy. The purpose of this paper is to analyze modern cultural artifacts and how they are consistent with the cultural beliefs and values of the community that they come from. This paper will take into consideration one example of modern artifact for the purpose of depth analysis of the concept of cultural artifacts in modern world (Bijker, 1995).
Family album is a form of modern artifact. This is where the family photographs are kept from the parent photographs to children pictures. They are very vital in the modern society as they are used as the means of remembering family’s good and bad times. They also signify unity in the family, love and bonds that unit the family together. This is a cultural artifact that is common in all parts of the world, from Africa, Asia and Europe to America.
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Family albums have always played a crucial role as navigators of family possessions, memories, and family ideology. Most of the photographs of many families contain a range of important items, both unidentified and identified held together by the collective identity of the family. When the family photographs are put together, they remind us of our family history as well as sentimental ties within our families. When a member of the family views a photograph of a deceased member of the family, it enables him/her to manuscript the family life as it used to happen and one remembers the good and bad times they had together. I am of the view that family albums are a form of cultural artifacts as they express unity, coherence, and emphasis (Bourdieu,1990).
The family photo album unity is much signified when the family photographs are clustered in the album. All family events that took place in one’s life are kept together collectively. To some people, the album may be insignificant but it carries so much to many. It signifies the united image of people’s present and past life. It indicates how family communicates and how the members of the family relate among themselves.
Family album signifies cultural beliefs of any given society. In many cultures, family is an important pillar in the survival of any given community, and the album upholds this crucial fact by bringing the family members together. Many of the artifacts in many societies signify the important community or society occasions such as death or marriage ceremonies; family albums are not left out as they carry a weighty aspect of the society such as bringing good memories as well as bad ones back. They also promote peaceful coexistence and unity in the community. This is one of the major role played by cultural artifacts as they are used to promote peaceful co-existence in any community. It is, therefore, sound to conclude that family album is one of good examples of modern cultural artifacts.
