How BBC's 'The Repair Shop' mends memories too

That is the conclusion of a philosophical and scientific paper published in the open access journal, Memory, Mind and Media by Cambridge University Press, on the day the award-winning BBC TV show begins its twelfth series. Research authors McCarroll and Kirby said: 

When we mend these objects, we may also mend the memories that are tied to them. 

Treasured possessions 

In the BBC show, members of the public bring their cherished but crumbling possessions into a workshop populated by expert craftspeople who carry out restorations. These objects arrive as treasured possessions, which, despite their dilapidated state, still hold memories and meaning for their owners - albeit memories that may have faded as the object itself has aged. 

In their research paper, philosopher Christopher Jude McCarroll and artist Alun Kirby outline how something magical seems to take place after the objects are restored, reanimating and reviving the memories that their owners have invested in them.

Reanimating and reviving memories 

The research paper suggests that restoring 'evocative objects' brings back highly personal memories and the feelings that come with them. Such evocative objects may have little financial value but they are valuable due to the meaning and memory people have instilled in them.

The authors distinguish between two varieties of such evocative objects: 'direct evocative objects', where the objects are related to experiences in the owners' personal pasts. In one such example, a guest's response to an ancient, repaired violin is to report that she was "overwhelmed" and that the object has transported her to the past, evoking strong autobiographical memories of the instrument. 

Another variety is 'Indirect evocative objects' - for example, objects that have no direct links to the guest but which have associations with an ancestor, and provide a 'living memory' of someone who has passed away - are also very capable of evoking and strengthening memories of a loved one, say the authors.

A guest on the show may have no personal recollection of a repaired watch, for example, but the knowledge that it was worn every day by a relative 'scaffolds' the memories of that person. 

The research paper authors show how objects seem to have become symbolic in different ways, and they also describe the potential mechanisms by which the restoration of these objects repairs memory.

"Looking after the objects of our lives may help keep memories alive over time", said authors McCarroll and Kirby. 

What we can say is that repair, or perhaps the maintenance of objects in general - to properly look after the 'things' in our lives - is to take care of our personal, family, and cultural memories. 

Writing in a book detailing some of the moving stories from 'The Repair Shop', master restorer and presenter of the programme, Jay Blades, said: "Everyone has a story to tell. For those who can link their family history to a symbolic object, we at The Repair Shop can play a role in its retelling." 

Read the full paper here.