My group of master’s students was given the fantastic opportunity to contribute to Streetmuseum, a recent exhibition by the Museum of London.
Cleaveland Road, a street in Surbiton, Surrey, was chosen as a snapshot of suburban life and our role was to produce a booklet that related to an object – either something on the street or belonging to someone who lives there.
Some students were assigned objects such as a pencil found on the pavement, a hydrangea plant, a Mini Cooper or even the varying styles of houses’ front doors.
Others were invited to interview local residents about a treasured object and I was lucky enough to talk to Paul and Dee, a couple who commute to central London every day.
Their chosen object was a set of placemats woven from bark and raffia in Uganda, where they spent a summer volunteering for the Calm Africa charity. As with so many objects in the exhibition, the placemats are a valuable souvenir.
The couple described the time Paul let a lantern up into the sky that enchanted the children. As they watched it rise, they saw an aeroplane soar even higher and they asked Paul and Dee if that was how they had arrived in their country and, if so, had they ever been to the moon.
The couple said such innocent questions grounded them and that the experience had provided some amazing life lessons.
Being given the privilege to hear about a couple’s life- changing experience was a bit like reading the Humans of New York website,where a photographer takes pictures of people in public spaces and shares their stories, sometimes just a few lines, online.
Stories of people, whether we know them or not, strike a chord within us, and through the interpretations in exhibitions such as Streetmuseum, we can feel what they felt, see what they saw, and gain a greater understanding of ourselves because of it.
Cleaveland Road, a street in Surbiton, Surrey, was chosen as a snapshot of suburban life and our role was to produce a booklet that related to an object – either something on the street or belonging to someone who lives there.
Some students were assigned objects such as a pencil found on the pavement, a hydrangea plant, a Mini Cooper or even the varying styles of houses’ front doors.
Others were invited to interview local residents about a treasured object and I was lucky enough to talk to Paul and Dee, a couple who commute to central London every day.
Their chosen object was a set of placemats woven from bark and raffia in Uganda, where they spent a summer volunteering for the Calm Africa charity. As with so many objects in the exhibition, the placemats are a valuable souvenir.
The couple described the time Paul let a lantern up into the sky that enchanted the children. As they watched it rise, they saw an aeroplane soar even higher and they asked Paul and Dee if that was how they had arrived in their country and, if so, had they ever been to the moon.
The couple said such innocent questions grounded them and that the experience had provided some amazing life lessons.
Being given the privilege to hear about a couple’s life- changing experience was a bit like reading the Humans of New York website,where a photographer takes pictures of people in public spaces and shares their stories, sometimes just a few lines, online.
Stories of people, whether we know them or not, strike a chord within us, and through the interpretations in exhibitions such as Streetmuseum, we can feel what they felt, see what they saw, and gain a greater understanding of ourselves because of it.
