Book
of belongings
Presented with the problem of so many unidentified bodies in mass graves
in post-conflict Bosnia,
the Red
Cross (ICRC) came up with the 'Book of Belongings'. This is an album
containing photos
of the clothes and personal effects found with the remains. The book is
taken around villages so
people can see if they recognise any of the objects. In this simple way
many mourning families
have been reunited with their loved ones, and countless brothers, husbands,
fathers, and sons
have been given back their personal identity.
Fly-by-night arrangers
I read a news story about people, whole families, in Japan who pay yonigeya
(or 'fly-by-night arrangers')
to remove them from their debt-ridden lives. Spirited away to start new
lives in the dead of night, they
have to decide whether to take any personal possessions with them. While
having some of their old
things around can make the transition to a new identity easier to bear,
the dilemma is that clinging to
elements of that previous life may put them at risk of discovery.
Identity papers
We are used to seeing the aftermath of violent events on the TV news all
the time now. I am struck that
sometimes the stupidest things that you have in your pockets can become
near sacred to those you leave
behind if you die suddenly. As, tragically, for a group of Chinese cocklepickers
in Morecambe Bay,
the stuff in
your pockets - lucky
charms, keepsake tokens or talismans - may
be called upon to act as your identity papers
on any day of your life. One of the most poignant aspects of the tragedy
of 9/11 was that there was not a trace
left of so many people's loved ones. It is only rarely that we humans
vanish without trace like that - atomised.
Essentials
When, on the TV news, I see lines of refugees fleeing a war zone or disaster
scene I am drawn to the
things they are clutching. Cooking pots and bits of furniture are strapped
to carts or clasped in peoples'
arms along with their babies. What are the things that, practically and
culturally, might make it possible
to endure such upheaval, I wonder. In violent times the TV shows young
men looting from shop windows
while others (women and older men) salvage the essentials of everyday
life and perhaps family heirlooms
from their shattered homes.
Legacy
A friend of mine died suddenly, many years ago now. He left behind lots
of things, beautiful and personal
objects that he had collected and treasured. He was outlived by his domestic
clutter too, the stuff that he used
every day but would not have wished his existence to be judged by. As
his friends we helped to pack up his
belongings to save his parents' additional pain. Every object he left
behind prompted emotion and memory.
Sarah
Davenport
2006
©
all images copyright
owned by the artist
Sarah Davenport
