Migrating meanings: New Zealand kiwiana collectors and national identity

Material objects are imbued with accumulated meanings. This article explores the migrating meanings of vintage popular cultural artefacts in New Zealand. These once mundane household items are now treasured collectibles known as 'kiwiana'. In the face of the risk of annihilation of difference through the impacts of globalization, these collectibles are valued for their idiosyncratic localness. With the inundation of cheap generic imported merchandise onto the market, there is a revival of enthusiasm for insistently local materiality. As souvenirs of everyday life of the past, they enable collectors to perform a version of the self while reiterating populist cultural mythologies of nation.