As part of our preparations for the upcoming exhibition 'Generations: Stories from South Asian St Albans' which will open at St Albans Museum + Gallery in July 2025, we are looking for real voices to include in the displays.
If you are part of our local South Asian communities you could help us by recording a 'mini interview' with an older family member or friend, asking them one simple question:
What was life like when you were my age?
Some interview advice:
- Practice at least once with your interviewee, and then record them on your phone or another device, making sure that you are somewhere quiet and comfortable.
- Make sure they know that by sending the interview, you and they are agreeing to it being played in the exhibition.
- You might want to encourage them to talk about family, work, where they lived, if they moved, schools, pets, technology.
- Use whatever technology you have - a voice note on a mobile phone is ideal.
- When it comes to the final recording, please keep it to your interviewee's voice only. They should start by saying 'When I was your age...'
- Record in English where possible. If you need to record in another language that's absolutely fine - just let us know what language it is and we can provide a written translation.
Now here's a challenge: please keep recordings to 1 minute or shorter.
Once you are happy with your mini interview, please send it along with your name and the name of your interviewee, your relationship and your ages (if you are happy to share), to southasianstalbans@gmail.com.
Please let us know if you'd like to get involved in more activities around this exhibition. You can also use this email if you have any enquiries about this project.
