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.
Today there was a super-long queue at the entrance of the Billingsgate Fish market and people were waiting at the parking area. It would probably take a long time for me get in, so I decided to only draw a sketch of the space from the outside.
After 2020 Summer, I went to the fish market again for sketching. I started to think about how to open up the dialogue with the fishmongers more effectively. If I always stand in the corner of the fish market, it may be too passive, and the process of sketching makes it difficult to talk with the people for a longer time as well. Even though the fishmongers always come and say hello to me when they walk past me, they seldom stop and talk because they are working. If fishmongers are used to seeing me standing there and sketching, I need to think about how to show them that I am interested in listening to their stories. I should take the initiative to talk with them.