In this gallery talk Professor Small (Anthropology) will discuss how differential mobilities and materialities of money, things and persons across and within borders affect assessments of and ideas about value(s) in a changing world. He will draw on research related to migration, remittances, black markets, and financial technologies in Southeast Asia as well as comparatively across the Global South.

This gallery talk is connected to the current exhibit, "Things We Value," on view at the Pick Museum of Anthropology (Sep. 15–Dec 5, 2026). What makes something valuable? Why do we value some things more than others? Exploring topics such as currencies, commodities, trade networks, art markets and the cost of dying, this exhibition reflects on how we assign value to the things in our lives — and why that matters.