Call for Participants - Remember When

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About Call for Participants - Remember When

Remember When?

As a child I was always hoaking, and always being told off for it. In Northern Ireland the word ‘hoak’ means to rummage around in things, to look at, to explore to investigate. Now with permission, I can hoak to my hearts content in other peoples belongings and not be told off for it.

Other peoples belongings have always fascinated me, but not just items that were in plain sight, the things that people hid away, kept in boxes, tins, cupboards and under the bed.
The mystery that surrounded these hidden items drew me in, there was the potential to create a story around, who used them, what they used them for, who were the people in the photographs. Why were they hidden away, only to be brought out on a very rare occasion? These things were special in some way that I could not understand or communicate as a child.

I guess in some way it explains my need to understand things, how things work, why people do what they do, what was happening at a particular time.

Two of my favourite things to hoak in were a small box that my grandfather kept in a cupboard in the sitting room. It was filled with treasure, a couple of old tattered photos medals, and foreign money.
The other was a biscuit tin belonging to my mother. The biscuit tin contained photographs, birth certificates, an insurance policy, and mementoes of events. There was even a piece of wedding cake in that box.

What these boxes contained were memories, items to be looked at, held and examined, people and events to be remembered and treasured.

I now have the best excuse ever to hoak. I am an artist and I want to explore other peoples memories, to remember those events, people, things that were important to us, to share these memories with others. Alice Burns 2012

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