THE POWER OF MEMORIES

I was delighted to read the piece on page 32 of today’s issue, an interview with Martin Nolan, an Irishman who has made a career in the US out of selling celebrity memorabilia. His company, Julien’s Auctions, has been behind some of the biggest transactions in this fascinating industry. I’m a huge fan of Newbridge Silverware’s Museum of Style Icons, and often pop down to see the latest displays. One of the most recent I was at was the Kurt Cobain one towards the end of last year. My partner’s son is 17 and taught himself guitar during lockdown, with Nirvana being one of his favourite bands. As a huge rock fan myself, I was thrilled when he started following bands like Queen, Metallica, Guns ’n’ Roses,

Led Zeppelin and many more from the 1970s and 1980s. It’s incredible that all this time later, their music still resonates with people new to hearing it. When we got to Newbridge, I was amazed to see how many young people were at the exhibition, many of whom weren’t even born when Kurt died in 1994. It’s testament to the power and longevity of music. I understand completely when Martin Nolan says that what his company is selling is not an item of clothing or an accessory but a memory. When we were looking at the guitar that Kurt played in the MTV Unplugged session, and the video of the show being played beside it, I wasn’t thinking of the guitar or even the songs, I was thinking of where I was back then, the boy who’d just dumped me, the friends who I was causing mischief with, the park we were hanging around in, gathered around our ghetto blaster, the 15-minute walk home from school that took 45 minutes because of all our messing – it all came flooding back. The recent Amy Winehouse exhibition in Newbridge was similar – there’s so much emotion and nostalgia wrapped up in her music. Seeing seminal outfits triggers similar feelings. Looking at Princess Diana’s dresses, you remember the surge of sympathy and sadness you felt for her during her relationship with Charles, but also the joy you felt when seeing her with her children. While you’d like to think that such items would end up in the hands of fans, sadly we know that that’s not always the case. Collectors with the means to buy up prominent items will do so with the intention of selling them on when the value improves. Hopefully some of them will end up in places like the Museum of Style Icons, where they can be admired and enjoyed by people who truly respect what they stand for.

Enjoy the issue.