Encountering Survival: Collecting, preserving, caring for and sharing the stories from the northern community of Holocaust survivors and their families is Holocaust Centre North’s primary objective. Yet, every day we are aware of so much that cannot be preserved for posterity, either because it was lost, destroyed, stolen, left behind; or because of it being immaterial, and as such, defies archival practices.

The Encountering Survival audio guide gives space to what is loudest in its material absence: the scent of a grandparent’s home, tobacco, sweets and an old jacket; the long journey of a single, remaining family heirloom; those phrases which encapsulate a lifetime of mourning. Artists Linda O Keeffe focused on ‘voices’ and ‘objects’ respectively. Across 5 tracks, her work mediates the histories of treasured objects, and the textures of loss, trauma and childhood memories. They have created an intimate record that bears witness to the act of remembering.