Something old, something new

In my New Job I am (among other things) managing the archivists, so today I went out to visit the archive. What an amazing place the archive is. There were press cuttings from the Biafran crisis, which apparently the BBC once borrowed by sending a taxi for them, T-shirts from the 1980s, a Christmas card drawn by John Lennon, minutes from the organisation's first ever committee meeting (lovingly restored by someone at the Bodleian in their spare time), and -- my personal favourite -- a file marked 'The Shoe Affair - 1969'.

What's this? I said. 'Ah, yes' they said. 'The Shoe Affair'.

I can't tell you what the Shoe Affair was, it's still a trade secret.

It was a good meeting. I know the importance of information, but it reminded me of the importance of history, and of provenance. It's a hard job though. There can be few archivists in the world who feel they are taken seriously enough.

I overstayed, and then left in a hurry to get back to the office for another meeting. Briefly stopped on the way at Bicester Village to get some lunch.

I *hate* Bicester Village. As one of my colleagues later put it, it is the apotheosis of capitalist evil. I didn't have that exact delightful phrase on my lips as I stomped past the outlet shops in search of Pret a Manger, but it did occur to me that Bicester Village is the exact polar opposite of an NGO archive.

It looks like Main Street USA, all anodyne wood-fronted store fronts with spotless walkways patrolled by security guards. Everyone shopping there has perfectly highlighted hair and this season's jeans and boots. You can hear the credit card debts Ker-CHINGing up the mountain of conspicuous consumption. Who needs yesterday? Who cares where and how these products were manufactured? Give me the latest colour and give it to me cheap. Cat fur? Not my problem, unless my bum looks big in it.

I took Wendy the GPS with me to help me find the archive. I took her out of the car when I went to get my lunch -- you can't trust these 4x4 drivers. As I stomped back to the car with my sandwich she was in my pocket saying 'find the nearest road. Find the nearest road'.

There are times when I couldn't agree with her more.

joella