👀 You may want to take a seat for this one

#122 | Objects, memory and personal histories

Hi there,

I stumbled upon this website. A collection of chairs. Yup, chairs. 

Chairs are my Just One Thing for today.

Or are they?

The more seats I scrolled through, the more stories and associations came up. The Ayama chair caused my mom to reminisce about her maternal grandfather, who owned a similar one. The Irani Cafe chair reminds me to visit my favourite breakfast spot again soon. The turned wood ebony chair, like the one we’ve had in our family for at least three generations, had everyone at home shouting their own version of its origin story (no consensus on how old it really is, though).

There are 97 more of these, some of which will likely rekindle forgotten stories and family histories. Have a look at the stories section too!

These chairs were only the gateway to my exploration of material culture and personal histories. So here’s a little something more for you to click through: a crowd-sourced collection of personal histories traced through jewellery, books, maps, dining tables and whisky glasses.

Show them to your parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, and they’re sure to tell you some stories you don’t yet know about your family!

Ria