Listen Back to the Radio Show Celebrating Govanhill’s Most Treasured Objects
The latest Greater Govanhill radio show features stories from the project FONDS: Objects speak louder than words and serves as a portrait of Govanhill's diversity. It can be listened back on SoundCloud, on Radio Buena Vida's page via the link below.
The radio show, produced by Greater Govanhill originally aired on the 12 August as an accompaniment to the new exhibition which is on display in shop and cafe windows in the area. From a single white feather, to a pair of hearing aids, to a bunny without a face, the one hour long show features interviews with the owners of the special objects as well as music selected by them.
The stories behind the treasured belongings reveal the cultural and social diversity of Govanhill. Maria Marchidanu brought a 200 year old Romanian blouse, an artefact telling of the history of migrations in Europe. "The blouse works like a map of people's journeys," said Maria. "It's a storyteller that's sitting on a hanger.” She chose a song by Maria Tanase, known as the Romanian Edith Piaf, to go along with it.
For Ewelina Glowczyk, a little angel bought in a florist shop embodies the hospitality of people in Scotland that were like angels for her. "When I look at this one, I see humility, I see presence, I see simplicity, authenticity and non-judgement. Those are the characteristics of people I came across in my life who were like angels to me." Her tune was a Polish song that means Here I am sending an Angel.
For Rachel MacLeod, her hearing aids represent a journey of acceptance of her deafness. "When I was younger, they represented everything that was wrong with me. They were a symbol for all the barriers that I had experienced as a deaf girl growing up. As I started to get older and learn about things like intersectionality and the role of access to opportunity and how society treats disabled people, I started to go on this journey about acceptance of my hearing aids," she said. Her song is You'll Never Walk Alone by Gerry & The Pacemakers.
The show is presented by journalist Sorana Horsia and filmmaker Shanine Ghallagher. It was produced by Sam Welch. It aired by local community online station, Radio Buena Vida on 12 August and can be listened to anytime from Radio Buena Vida's SoundCloud page.
The show is supporting the exhibition around the shop fronts in Govanhill which features pictures of the special objects taken by Morwenna Keasley, a resident artist at Street Level Photoworks, as part of the Culture Collective program. The project was a collaboration with Greater Govanhill and Thriving places Govanhill. It was part of the Govanhill International Festival and also part of Scotland’s Year of the Stories.
The map below shows the location of all the images
This event has been supported by the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. This fund is being delivered in partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.