FONDS: Objects Speak Louder Than Words
Part I
Greater Govanhill community magazine was set up to celebrate the incredible diversity that exists within Govanhill, and the FONDS project does just that. We asked people who live in the local area to share an object that means something to them. From Kuwait to Brazil, Afghanistan to Romania the objects featured have travelled from all over the world to be here. They occupy a special place in their owners' lives because of that. Evoking feelings of family, home, distant countries and faded memories, they all connect people with those they love most.
Listen to some of the interviews with participants and the songs they chose here:
The project was a collaboration between Greater Govanhill and Thriving Places Govanhill, working with Morwenna Kearsley, Govanhill’s artist in residence through Street Level Photoworks Culture Collective programme. Morwenna used an experimental technique to showcase the objects in a whole new light. She used a 4x5 inch view camera and shot the images on colour film. Instead of using traditional lighting techniques, she used a darkened studio and used a moving torch to light the image over an eight minute exposure. The end result is a shimmering silky look evocative of older style glossy advertising. Read more in this article.
The images were displayed in large format in shop/cafe windows around the areas from 12 August - 12 September 2022. The locations are listed here.
NAME: DONNA HARLEY
OBJECT: FLUFFY SOCKS
“My mum always had cold feet, and I just remember heating her socks up on the radiator, and when she put them on she just used to go ‘Oh, that's lovely’.
She came here from Donegal at the age of 14 to find work. She used to go to Ayr with her sister picking potatoes – ‘tattie hoaking’.”
NAME: ALEX POPA
OBJECT: A WHITE FEATHER
“It was just this divine moment that I couldn't really comprehend in the moment.
But my instinct was like, take it because it will be your lucky charm. And I took it and I believed in it.”
NAME: ANNA STRZALKOWSKA
OBJECT: LADYBIRD PINS
“I remember my Grandmammy used to give me ladybirds as presents and I was sure that the reason for that was that she really liked ladybirds.
But when I was older I realised that maybe it was because she wanted to protect me. Because people believed that something red, even if it was very small, protects the wearer from the evil eye – from bad energy or wishes.”
NAME: ESRAA BEN-HUSAIN
OBJECT: MODEL KUWAITI BOOM
“Kuwait was very famous for sailing, diving, anything related to the sea. And my father's side of the family used to live on this type of boat when they would travel – to South Asia for trading spices, pearls, and fabrics.
The journey would take around six months or sometimes people didn't even come back alive.”
NAME: ELIZA (AGE 5)
OBJECT: BUNNY
“This bunny is called bunny because it’s a bunny! Its most special thing is its ears because they are shiny. I don’t know why it doesn’t have a face.
Maybe it was made that way. I like it because it’s like a mystery, it looks like a robber in the disguise of a bunny! A tiny robber.”
NAME: GRANT MCMANUS
OBJECT: PHOTO ALBUM FROM 1959
“It's a selection of photographs from this show; The Ice Period of 1959, which ran all summer in the Ice Drome at the pleasure beach in Blackpool.
My aunt Jean and my mother Annette were both ice dancers in the show. It's an absolutely fantastic talent to have. I wish I had somehow inherited it, but I have no confidence on the ice whatsoever.”
NAME: ANNE MILNE
OBJECT: MY GRANDMOTHER’S CHINA FIGURINE
“I remember seeing this figure in my grandmother’s house and I just really loved the glamour of it – how the sleeve kind of puffs out and then the little toe peeking out. It's quite exquisite.”
NAME: KELLY RAPPLEYE
OBJECT: BASEBALL CAP
“This hat is from a 'free cap day' in July of 2018 at the Dodgers stadium in Los Angeles, where I was born and raised…
I grew up next door to the stadium and summer always meant games with my dad – where he would find the cheapest possible tickets, sneak in beers and snacks, and patiently re-explain the rules of the game each time.”
NAME: KATHERINE MIDGELY
OBJECT: MANDOLIN
"My dad didn't have a lot of stuff, but he took really good care of the things that he did have.
So even after he died, I didn't take it straight away because it still really felt like his. It's only in the last year or so that I started saying 'my mandolin' instead of 'my dad's mandolin'."
NAME: TIM NUNN
OBJECT: FOUNTAIN PEN
“This is my first fountain pen. It was a birthday present from my parents exactly 52 years ago (I’m writing on my birthday!) and was a complete surprise. And special.
I associated fountain pens with my fathers beautiful handwriting, and it felt very grown-up to own one. It has a gold nib! Jeez!!”
NAME: RHIANNON DAVIES
OBJECT: TOY SNAKE
"My grandmother was very open about death, even when we were young. On her bookshelf, she had this row of wicker baskets which had the name of her grandchildren on. They were filled with things we would get after she died."
NAME: RACHEL MACLEOD
OBJECT: HEARING AIDS
“When I was younger, my relationship with my hearing aids was a fractured one. They were a symbol for what was wrong with me.
As I got older, I started to go on this journey of acceptance of my deaf identity.”
NAME: BEL PYE
OBJECT: MY GRANDFATHER’S VIOLIN
“The reason I have it is because the person that gave my granddad this violin, told him that if it ever went out of the family, he'd come back to haunt my granddad.
So someone in every generation of the family has had to learn to play the violin.”
NAME: SAMUEL GONÇALVES
OBJECT: CAIXINHA FOTOGRÁFICA (PICTURE BOX)
“It feels like an artefact. It's like something I took, Indiana Jones style, from a temple and swapped it with a bag of sand. I am the custodian over something that does something to me, that brings me emotion, but that doesn't necessarily belong to me."
NAME: MOHAMMAD SHAKER
OBJECT: PALESTINIAN WALLET
"I've always kept it safe because it represents a gift from my mum. My grandmother made it for her when I was little.
"The mom of Mohammad" is written on it. It's also the only thing I have from my grandmother. "
NAME: IBRAHIM KAMARA
OBJECT: BBC WORLD SERVICE CERTIFICATE
"This certificate changed everything in what people were saying about me.
Their respect started from right then, because in my country, if you choose entertainment as your career, they look at you like somebody who did not want to choose a brighter future."
NAME: KATE SAMUELS
OBJECT: MY GRANDMA’S RED HIGH HEELS
"A lot of people aren't able to take a lot of things with them when they're leaving Ukraine just now.. even the basic things.
So it feels like a lot of privilege to be here and have something from home."
NAME: SUSIE BRIGHOUSE
OBJECT: FAIRY FIGURINE IN A GLASS JAR
"I used to really enjoy making up stories about it and thinking: oh, where did it come from? How did he get in there?"
NAME: MARIA MARCHIDANU
OBJECT: ROMANIAN BLOUSE
"It's a storyteller that's sitting on a hanger. 200 years ago it would have been mingled with other very similar blouses, whereas now it's an element of folklore and memory.
I think that is where its value comes from – from all the untold stories that have traveled with it."
NAME: GIACINTA FRISILLO
OBJECT: SNUGGLE
“When I first got him and my mom was away so much with my aunty, I was really sad that she was gone for such long periods of time.
And she would always say, ‘if you give him a hug, then I'll feel it. I'll know that you're giving me a hug’. I think I still sort of feel that.”
NAME: SAREH ABASI
OBJECT: PAIR OF EARRINGS
“I wear them when I miss my mum. It’s like you can feel something that belongs to your mother – such a good feeling.”
NAME: KENNETH COUSIN
OBJECT: GREEN DRAGON
“It was a gift from my mother, from China. I view it as an enigma. I keep it next to me either as a good luck or as a bad luck charm.”
NAME: NAJAT EL BOUHALIOBJECT: DIGITAL CAMERA
“In 2007, this was the first photography camera that I bought with my own money.
It was not very expensive but I was very happy with it.”
NAME: EWELINA GLOWCZYK
OBJECT: ANGEL FIGURINE
"When I look at this little one, I see humility. I see simplicity, authenticity and non-judgement. These are the characteristics of people who I came across in my life, that were like angels to me."
NAME: ANNE KASTEROBJECT: GUITAR PEDAL
I see this object as a symbol of that friendship, of creativity shared, of generosity but also now as a symbol of something which is lost, past, gone.”
All images © Morwenna Kearsley/Street Level Photoworks/CultureCollective
This event has been supported by the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. This fund is being delivered in partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.
