An Appropriation of Ashes: Transient Aesthetic Markers and Spiritual Place-Making as Performances of Alternative Ethnic Identities

Abstract

In this paper I consider the material ways in which individuals overlay an imaginary, ethnicized secondspace in the form of a spiritual realm onto their state-defined, lived firstspaces. Through the use of temporary roadside altars and shrines, I argue that this imaginary space is reified into transient aesthetic markers that subvert state-mandated, purpose-built structures and ethnic narratives, allowing for alternative versions of diasporic ethnic identities to be performed and consumed. Through the use of a case study of a suburban town centre in Singapore, I employ a mix of visual and sensorial observation methods and take the role of a hungry ghost during the seventh lunar month, exploring the material manifestations of ethnic imaginations.