***
I projektet "26 Pairs of Eyes" gav organisationen ett uppdrag åt tjugosex olika författare. De skulle skriva en sestude, d.v.s. en reflekterande studie om ett objekt och texten skulle innehålla exakt 62 ord. Författarna drog lott om vilket objekt de skulle skriva om.
Jag har valt ut tre av dikterna som ingår i det utgivna häfte som avslutade projektet. Men först museets resumé/deklaration:
"This is an exhibition that brings a fresh perspective to familiar objects, and places those lesser-known in the spotlight. From the pencil that belonged to Hospital Secretary John Brownlow, to George Frideric Handel’s Will. From a drainpipe to matron’s mallet. From a staircase to a Hogarth painting.
The Foundling Hospital was founded in 1739 by philanthropist Thomas Coram to care for babies at risk of abandonment. It was the UK’s first children’s charity and first public art gallery, supported by the creative generosity of artist William Hogarth and composer Handel." Källa: foundlingmuseum.org.uk
**
Det första objektet är en bålskål från 1700-talet med London Foundling Hospital i motivet. Fascinerande historier ligger bakom såväl objektets utseende som museets innehav av densamma. De kan ni läsa mer om här: http://26project.org.uk/26pairsofeyes/works/hester-thomas/
Who am I?, by Thomas Hester
Precious and rare,
Pale, porcelain skin.
Fair of face,
Rose, floral sprays.
Caught, a pleasure too many,
Twixt a haunt of hedonism
And a monument to mistakes.
At whose hands was I made and for whom?
Perhaps a high status gift,
A token of profound gratitude.
Broad and deep enough to bathe a newborn
Or toast her arrival.
To be beloved.
Enigma.
***
Nästa objekt är porträttet av Mrs Caroline Collingwood, en kvinna vars historia visade sig vara lika okänd som bålskålen ovan. Det blev skribenten som skulle göra bakgrundshistorien komplett varse när han sökte information om henne. Han konstaterade att det fanns bättre dokumentation om flera av barnen som föddes på sjukhuset och som sedan fosterhemsplacerades än det fanns om Mrs Collingwood.
This is Caroline Collingwood's token, by Kate B Hall
She watches from her place
on the wall by the soft voiced clock,
a label names her,
tells when the portrait arrived,
notes family relationships;
all her other history is lost,
our guesses come to nothing.
Children, given new names,
their past hidden, replaced by a number,
looked for answers in the dust falling
through the sunshine,
secretly dreamed of being hers.
She watches from her place
on the wall by the soft voiced clock,
a label names her,
tells when the portrait arrived,
notes family relationships;
all her other history is lost,
our guesses come to nothing.
Children, given new names,
their past hidden, replaced by a number,
looked for answers in the dust falling
through the sunshine,
secretly dreamed of being hers.
***
Det avslutande objektet är faktiskt en trappa, Foundling Hospital Staircase from the Boy's wing of the Foundling Hospital. Det är också en fin symbolisk dikt.
Spirit of the staircase, by Heidi Williamson
My father was a carpenter,
my mother an oak
who had to break to leave me here.
Raised for service,
I warmed to the children's prints
against my grain.
They hid behind my balustrades,
rode my banister like a steed,
scuffed this lustre in my tread.
Can you hear them
in my highest branches?
Calling out everything
our mothers might have said.
My father was a carpenter,
my mother an oak
who had to break to leave me here.
Raised for service,
I warmed to the children's prints
against my grain.
They hid behind my balustrades,
rode my banister like a steed,
scuffed this lustre in my tread.
Can you hear them
in my highest branches?
Calling out everything
our mothers might have said.
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