Objects coming to life

Ayoub carefully removes his collection from a ziplock bag. Among the items are drawings made by his nieces, a postcard with condolences for his father’s passing, and a spencer with his name written on it. These objects are of great importance to Ayoub. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out in what manner the things around us are valuable to us. Countless drawings from a nephew, or birthday cards from grandma – everyone recognizes the emotional value that these objects carry, but they can nonetheless disappear in a dusty cabinet, buried and out of sight. In contrast, ordinary items of seemingly little value, such as a pair of boxer shorts or a plane ticket, can unexpectedly come to play an important role in someone’s life.

What matters is how we relate to objects. If something life changing happens and turns your world upside-down, those drawings from your niece and that frayed pair of underwear can suddenly become very important. In this manner the items sitting in front of Ayoub became valuable to him, because they each in some way symbolize meaningful events from his life. Some of these events, such as his flight from Afghanistan and his journey to the Netherlands, were very painful. That explains why his niece’s drawings had to be dug up from a storage cabinet, not because they were forgotten, but because it is too hard to be reminded daily of the family he left behind. Hiding away belongings thus becomes very significant in itself. The stories that lie behind these items are evidently personal and meaningful, and it’s very special that Ayoub has collected them for us.