Dragging the box out from the shed, I’m hit by a musty waft of nostalgia as a vague, familiar smell leaks from it.
Later I examine the boxes contents. Among old books, records and pin badges is a torn blue paper folder. Spilling from it are piles of notebooks and scrappy bits of paper covered in manic scribbles.
The folder contains mix tapes, made by girlfriends past, Photographs of the women I had loved many years ago, leaflets for the exhibitions we went to.
Looking through this archive of my thoughts, feelings, mistakes and triumphs makes me feel both elated and forlorn.
I teeter vicariously between laughter and tears throughout the experience of sifting through over 10 years of personal history.
The reason for this foray into my past is because I have agreed to contribute to University of Sunderland student Michelle Wall’s ‘Mementos and Memories’ art project.
Michelle hopes to exhibit the treasured and everyday items we hide away in our homes which remind us of a special memory or experience.
The inspiration for the project comes from Michelle finding an ornate suitcase in her loft. The suitcase belonged to the houses previous tenants, who had lived there for three generations.
It contained bundles of correspondence between a married couple forced to live apart during the 1940’s and 50’s. Unable to see each other they shared their lives together on paper.
“The fact these letters had been kept, treasured and survived all that time was inspiring to me,” Michelle said. “I wanted to celebrate this as a legacy to their relationship by exploring the treasured memories of others.” She says of her inspiration for the project.
Michelle, who is in the final year of her fine art degree, initialised the project by collecting and displaying her own mementos. Hers were memories of adolescence and early relationships through to recent marriage and motherhood.
She has now begun collecting the mementos of others with the aim of putting together a exhibition and book that will become a collective memento of its own because, she said, “I want us all to acknowledge and appreciate the otherwise fleeting and forgotten moments in our past.”
On the things Michelle is most interested in is the way these items are stored. “These keepsakes are often tucked away, they are too precious or personal to display,” she told me.
“To anyone else a ticket stub or a melted candle would mean nothing. Yet given its history and connection to its owner it takes on a new identity.”
The memory then begins to transcend the realm of the mind. It is transformed into a tangible, physical thing, what Michelle describes as “a vessel of sentiment.”
This is why I find myself sifting through my own mementos and memories. Reading through my old notebooks it strikes me, for better or worse, how much I’ve changed and the ways in which I’ve stayed the same.
All the bittersweet experiences of life are documented in the yellowing pages. I am thankful to Michelle for dredging it all up. I can only suggest you do the same as it was horrible and wonderful.
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