Transfer of Ownership
Giving a garment to someone else is sometimes a straightforward and
spontaneous act. At other times a transfer of ownership is more
circuitous. Periods of overlapping ownership often intensify resource
use and stud a garment’s story with memories.
House of treasure
“I am from a big house on a farm and we just find things around the house from my parents and my grandparents and think ‘oh something new’… . Between the generations, they don’t [throw] anything out. I found this top and trousers there. These trousers I used when I was about twelve almost every day at school. I didn’t wash them so much but then I got new trousers so I put them away for a time, and maybe one or two years later I found them again and then I used them every day for about three years. And I really mean every day. I wear clothes from both from my Mum and my grandma. When I was a little girl I always found clothes in the house and still today I can find things: ‘Oh I haven’t seen it before!’ But it’s not a very big house but maybe it’s a house with a lot of things.”
Oslo - March 2012
Photograph by
Kristin von Hirsch
