The Barter Archive aims to preserve the stories and collective memories of the people working at the Billingsgate Fish Market at Canary Wharf, London. The archive begins as a series of observational drawings which are gradually exchanged for the fishmongers’ stories, memories and personal objects.
I met Scott, from Cyprus Fishers, today. He’s started working in the fish market when he was 16, and it has been 50 years. He said that the people in the whole fish market knew him. His dad and son also work in the market. His daughter Kate works in the Billingsgate café every Saturday.
The fishmongers love to mention the experience of travelling to Hong Kong after I have told them I was from Hong Kong. Scott stayed in the Lantau Island, Hong Kong, for a year and lived in Australia for another year.
He said, ‘I think Hong Kong is perfect. There are many high-rise buildings, and the girls in Hong Kong are very good.’ He saw me drawing his sketch, and the first question he asked me is if he needed to pay for this. I started to think about bartering. Maybe I can give out my sketches in exchange for something.