We see the world and ourselves through stories. But when content is churned out faster than we can process it, there’s very little to hold onto. What we see, make, and consume disappears as quickly as it appears, leaving behind a culture that feels increasingly hollow.

In this fast-moving landscape, stories lose their weight. What we’re left with is a growing sense of rootlessness, a quiet but persistent feeling that we’re no longer tethered to the things that once helped us understand ourselves. That’s because the traditions, rituals, and subcultures that once helped us feel connected are now being diluted or erased entirely.

COMMON HERITAGE is auster’s response to that forgetting.

Our COMMON HERITAGE is our ritual of storytelling

auster launched COMMON HERITAGE to spotlight creatives from around the world whose work is rooted in cultural memory, and who are reshaping it in ways that feel present and urgent.

Designed as a series, we see it as a living archive not only meant to preserve culture, but encourage its active transformation.

At the heart of COMMON HERITAGE are the artists, designers, musicians, and storytellers who treat memory as material. By experimenting with sound, movement, fabric, and ritual, they remind us that culture is not something we passively inherit, but something we practice everyday.

And that practice takes form in storytelling. It’s how we make sense of who we are, and where we came from. For generations, stories were how we preserved and passed down knowledge. Mnemonic devices, memory palaces, indigenous songs, traditional dance; tools crafted to aid information retention and retrieval, many drawing connections from nature, the community, and spirit.

Today it comes in new forms. Whether it’s a dancer reimagining Bharatanatyam for a modern audience, or a tattoo artist experimenting with cultural symbols through ink, these creatives offer something rare: work that helps us feel connected to a larger story, and to one another.

But for creatives doing this kind of work, being seen is getting harder. What tends to gain visibility instead are polished aesthetics and familiar formats often devoid of their original contexts. With hyperoptimization driving what gets shown, slower, more deliberate content is often overlooked. And so, the kind of storytelling that carries memory, ritual, and culture risks being buried under the noise.

Common Heritage

Image courtesy of @tteyyi

We see it most clearly in the way subcultures are treated today. Subcultures, once rooted in resistance and community, are routinely hijacked by the mainstream, stripped of context and politics then sold back as surface-level aesthetics.

Streetwear is an example. Originally shaped by hip-hop, skate, punk scenes, often within disenfranchised communities, streetwear was built on internal codes and DIY ethics. Today, luxury brands use its imagery without understanding or crediting the social history behind it. They have become marketing tools, detached from their subversive origins.

On TikTok, aesthetics like grunge, indie sleaze, and all kinds of “-core” cycle in and out of relevance, often disconnected from the values and lived experiences that shaped them. What gets amplified is what performs well. What gets erased is everything that makes it matter.

Why creatives need support

Despite their value to cultural life, many creatives working against the tide go unseen or unsupported. Their work doesn’t always fit cleanly into categories. It’s not engineered for algorithms. It often requires time, research, and emotional labor, which rarely align with the fast-moving demands of platforms or institutions.

Creatives are expected to simplify their stories for consumption.

auster’s COMMON HERITAGE exists to push back against that pressure.

Through each episode, we allow creatives to tell their stories on their own terms. We take time to understand their process, explore their practices in depth, and contextualize the traditions they’re working with.

By exploring different visual formats, we make their stories accessible. We create access points that bring the uninitiated audience into the know but in a style that meets them where they are. Engagement looks different for everyone, so we create formats that support both visual learners and those who prefer in-depth discussion.

We make content that’s design-forward and social-first, but we don’t compromise the narrative to fit neatly into a template. Each short-form video, motion graphic, and image is a fragment that, when brought together, reveals a full picture of the artist and the traditions they carry forward. And when shared, they help us feel a little more rooted. Less alone.

Common Heritage as a Living Archive - Image 2.webp

Image courtesy of @tteyyi

The value of a living archive

We believe that storytelling is a form of grounding. When made with intention rather than for performance, it becomes a way for us to connect with ourselves and with others.

This is why we need creatives. And this is why we’re committed to supporting them. Because through their work, we remember. Through their courage to tell stories that don’t always fit the mold, we’re reminded of our own ability to imagine differently.

And in a world that often forgets too quickly, that kind of remembering matters.