Sometimes, it’s not the story told by the person who brings an object in that moves me, but rather the implicit narrative inherent in the object itself. This was clearly the case with the broken wooden tourist gift-shop goblet that Mr Blackmore came in with.
At first, I was sort of floundered at what to do with it, but then I noticed a small text written on the broken off part of its foot. Art of Ukraine. This goblet had at some point been made and sold in the Ukraine, to a tourist at the time when tourists still thought it a reasonable idea to go for holidays in Ukraine. Who knows, maybe it was even sold in the famous resorts in the Crimea, at the time when that peninsula was still part of Ukraine, or is it still?
The tragedy of the this sad little object struck home with me. How good is it not for a country when tourist trinkets and kitsch is being produced there? What a sign of peace, that people would come there and look for something cheap to take home with them, as a memory. I wonder how many tourists go to the Ukraine nowadays (again, I know that Russian tourists still go to the Crimea, but…)
Two or three years ago, I still might not have considered Ukraine a great place to go for a holiday. But not at all for the same reasons, and there is no way I could have guessed at why I would find the very idea of flying there for their beaches and beautiful towns and villages an absolutely absurd idea today. Is it not really much more absurd how quickly a country that used to be a possible tourist destination can turn into a war zone. And isn’t it sad how long afterwards the very name of those regions retain their bitter taste to us? Just think Sarajevo or Belfast, I mean, is the first thing that pops up in your mind the medieval bridges over the Miljacka or the wharf of the Titanic? Really? But still, both places are great cities and really worth a visit. I know because I have been to both of them. But the tragic shadow of war and violence will stain a place for decades to come, even if a conflict only takes a few, tragic decisions to start.
The flowery mortar grenade I turned the goblet into, is also a tragic reminder that for some people, the region has only now become interesting to visit, as mercenaries and war tourists.
A really weird and funny development happened after I had finished this piece and put it up here: I was telling Laura Turner, one of the visitors to the repair shop, the stories behind some of the objects and how I then transformed them. As we talked about Art of Ukraine, I joked that one wouldn’t necessarily think of visiting Ukraine in its current state, and that the weapon like memorabilia I had crafted from the cup reflected this. She disagreed though, and said she had been there and loved it, but also that the souvenir she had brought back was indeed a weapon, or rather a fake weapon. How funny. She sent me the picture included below, and I have to admit, that in this case reality really trumps fiction! Thanks Laura.
courtesy Laura Turner