Seniors’ objects with stories to tell

A COMMUNITY exhibition of objects and stories from Canberra senior citizens went on show for just four hours on Tuesday at Greenway Views by LDK.

At an opening event in the late morning, Pip McNaught, curator of the show, “Important to Me: Objects and Stories”, told those present how she had been working for 10 years on the project, in which priceless personal objects kept by Canberrans served as a way of telling their true stories.

Bearing a striking resemblance to the National Museum of Australia and National Australia Day Council’s annual exhibition of objects chosen by Australian of the Year state and territory recipients, this one, McNaught said, had been much longer in the making and it had been 10 years since she started this project with aged-care residents, beginning with shows in Carey Gardens at Baptist Care.

McNaught, a curator and research associate with the museum, thanked Mike Pickering from the NMA for his guidance and Graham Reynolds for sponsorship and the professional framing.

She said the stories were many varied some from childhood, such as the two prams on show, some models of ships, some clothing, and even a Syrian dagger, all contributing to the idea that through our stories we can make our history.

This was seen in seen in Pat Hutton’s elegant red and black 21^st birthday dress, Joy Brigstocke and Margaret Day’s Philippine porcelain, Bob Denner’s Bedouin ceremonial dagger, Bev O’Connor’s Mary Rosa mystical statue, Helen Sheedy’s copy of Chaucer, two prams, lovingly restored and many other objects.