A cabinet of curiosities!
The Cabinet of Lost and Found project was created by The Red Room Company for The Sydney Writers' Festival in 2006. The project consisted of an installation of poems and objects in a cabinet of curiosities that audiences could rummage through. Cabinets of curiosities, sometimes called Wunderkammer (German for 'wonder chamber'), date back to the Renaissance, in which people collected rare and special objects to display in their homes.
Collection of objects and poems
A selection of poems written by Australian poets such as Emily Ballou, Ella Holcombe, Ben Michell, Luke Icarus Simon and Alicia Sometimes were accompanied by the poet's personal objects that related to their work. A card catalogue containing details about the poets and the poems were also on view, with a new object added each day.
Sydney bookbinder, Lorraine Brown created a hand-bound book of the project material. This accompanied the objects and poems in an old magician’s box and photographed by Prudence Upton.
The project inspired The Cabinet of Lost and Found learning resource, where students are asked to select a 'talismanic object' to use as poetic stimuli, and to create their own personal cabinet of lost and found, where their poems are displayed in creative and innovative ways.
Browse through photos of Concord High School's 'Fridge of Lost and Found'.