international potato chip bag collection

The Memory Chips Museum is an artistic initiative introducing the “museum as medium”": a vibrant space built around a growing collection of over 1,000 potato chip bags from around the globe. Taking “Potato Chip Diplomacy” as our core principle, the museum transforms snack packaging into a surprising platform for storytelling, curiosity, and connection.

Each bag in our collection tells a story—about place, people, and identity. From wasabi flavor in China to dill pickle in the US, these humble snacks become playful ambassadors of their homelands, inviting visitors to explore the richness of the world through salty souvenirs.

More than just a collection, Memory Chips is a collaborative community project. The museum is a gathering place for neighbors, travelers, artists, and snackers alike—offering space to connect, reflect, and discover something new.

crumbs of history

In 2003 I moved to China to study foot juggling with the Hebei Acrobatic Troupe. It was rough times: training from 7am until 7pm, 6 days a week, mostly alone, and definitely while older than everyone else at the zaji tuan (acrobatic troupe). I was so perpetually tired that I made a weird decisions. Like the one to start collecting potato chip bags. The highlight of my Sundays—my only day off—was to hang out at the grocery store and look at all the unfamiliar flavors. I figured they were a type of souvenir that would forever remind me of my experiences so far from home. And once I ate the chips, they were so easy to pack!

The original bags from that year disappeared in the interstices while I foot juggled my way between Shijiazhuang and San Francisco and Turkey and Kosovo and Bulgaria and San Francisco and Serbia and New York. In 2008, I realized my collection had probably wound up where it belonged in the first place—in the trash. So I started over in earnest. My original collection parameters are that only bags that I personally collected were allowed, but with the establishment of the museum, I welcome donations of new bags. And more importantly, I invite conversations about the circumstances behind their purchase. Come crunch out with me.

— Anne Weshinskey