The object ceremony swap shop

It is a swap shop that swap stories

The object ceremony is a residency project that celebrates the “rebirth” of unwanted items. Every object carries its own story, whether is the reason someone chose a particular item or why your aunt gifted you that ugly sweater on Christmas Day that now resides at the back of your closet.

While it functions as a swap shop, it goes beyond simply exchanging items like clothes and vases, it also swaps the stories behind these objects and their significance to their previous owners.

Each item comes with comes with a tag, reminiscent of a price tag, where the former owner “proves” the object by sharing the narrative associated with it, what the item means to them, then passing along its story to the next person, giving the object a meaningful second life.

The event is divided into two part, first participants are invited to bring in their unwanted objects and write what the object mean to them, like why did they buy it at first or what occasion did they bring it to.

Then participants will hang their objects to the swap shop, or even swapping in person.

These are some objects people have brought in and had written their stories on the tag provided. Someone brought in the dress she wore for The Queen’s Jubilee and the first pot ever made on the wheel. At the end of the event, all unswapped objects will be sent to Ayoka, a charity shop supported by St Margaret’s House.