^ A slide from 'Shelf Memories' upcoming exhibition at the MAC!
While I loved this little black book full of classical hymns, I didn't fully appreciate it until I recently deciphered the handwriting!
Dedicated to Chrissie, it was gifted to her by her Church's Sunday School on the occasion of her leaving for Canada. Like many before them, her parents must have immigrated to Canada from the UK in search of a better life (most likely to escape the Great Depression -
according to Wikipedia the decade of 1930 "
was defined by a global economic and political crisis that culminated in the Second World War"). If Chrissie was anything like the little girl I was when my family moved from Wales to Ireland, it was devastating to leave our home, church, and friends behind. Hopefully, Chrissie's transition was easier than mine was and a more hopeful move for her family.
Either way, it was a loving gesture for her Sunday School to gift her a copy of a book that would bring her comfort. I like to imagine her enthusiastically singing these songs with her Sunday School class each week and then quietly to herself as her homeland disappeared into the horizon. The book isn't too well-worn looking for having been gifted to someone almost 100 years ago so perhaps the hymnal became a painful memory to Chrissie of a life left behind. Who knows. I can only hope Canada welcomed her with open arms.
Project Description
"Shelf Memories is a nostalgic photo series that documents the place of books within human relationships. In the first pages of these books lies a handwritten note from which we catch a brief yet intimate insight into the bond between people; the moments shared and milestones celebrated. The notes, paired with a cover image of the book, reveal the giver's intentions; from nursery rhythms and Bibles to poetry and self-help. No matter how meaningful they once were, the books are eventually outgrown and succumb to thrift store and community library shelves where they are found and photographed; the final resting place for many words chosen with care, signed with love, and given in hope. Relationships past and children grown, all that remains is a handwritten note, more often than not from XOXO Nana & Pops."
