M^u: A jewelry brand inspired by the stories of different communities

Designed and Hand-Crafted by Cecilia HyunJae Cho

M^u (pronounced: em-power-you) is a handmade jewelry brand conceived to empower and transform. Cecilia HyunJae Cho designed all components of this brand to cultivate physical and mental positive energy. M^u will release different collections inspired by a specific issue or community interests.

The first collection from M^u takes inspiration from the anecdotes of Third Culture Kids (TCK). TCKs are those raised in cultures different from their birth or ethnic culture. While this lifestyle promotes a well- founded worldview and kinship with various cultures, it comes with its share of obstacles. For instance, TCKs face the deep-seated conflict of identity that stems from the insecurity of cultural values.

The stories of TCKs have been transformed—by design—into ‘amulets’ for beauty and protection. The pieces in the TCK collection seek to ease the friction between clashing ideologies, values, and identities through a visual manifestation of coexisting elements of culture. Furthermore, wearing the pieces will have a physical and mental realization aligned with the mission of M^u.

wandering

Young May Yee’s life gets a 360° makeover when she is given a chance to go to the sunny Singapore for a much brighter future. But with an opportunity this grand, can she really keep up with what she is expected to become?

‘wandering’ is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel that follows May Yee, a young Burmese TCK coming to terms with her identity and the relationships with people around her, shaped by her experiences of living in Myanmar in the early 2000s and then moving to Singapore with her family. The story will be told through different perspectives, from both May Yee and her immigrant family in different print formats and sizes, and each of these works will be inspired in terms of form and narrative content by items from Burmese visual culture. Through these visual and narrative elements, ‘wandering’ hopes to communicate a more personal and unique experience of moving from Myanmar, while addressing the universal TCK experiences of growing up in two countries at the same time.

VagaHome – TCK: Scents of Identity

Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are individuals who have spent a significant part of their developmental years outside of their parents’ culture. These are the individuals who have learned to plant their roots in multiple places and cultures and, therefore, are usually struggling with the question, “Where are you from?”, as their answers often cannot resonate to just one anthropological place as commonly expected. Though each may have differing backgrounds and cultural experiences, TCKs find commonality in the state of in-betweenness, being that it is in the midst of transition and mobility where the TCK identity is born. VagaHome aims to establish the TCK identity through a sensory experience depicting the vagabond cycle of packing up and leaving one temporary home for another whilst still searching for a place they feel most at home.