Submitted by Roger on Sep, 27

Restored, Broken Pot

This is an ordinary clay garden pot, decorated and smashed by my son at the Royal Ontario Museum. He was doing a class there. He smashed it. It's lovely though because he learned about ancient culture and pottery. It taught him the act of restoring fragments of the past. Although this is new, it represents the past. This will probably become very old. I'll always have it with me. You know it lost a bit but it's still really whole in it's way.

How is this object or story important to you?

We take my son to the ROM every summer. Through him, I've learned about the past and he's learned about the past because he loves it so much. When I pick him up we always have to rush through the museum and see all the things he learned about. It's such a lovely thing that the past can impress not only the present but the future. My son wants to be a history teacher and a counsellor at the ROM. I guess it's really symbolic. Things aren't really made to last anymore.

What does it add to the story of Toronto?

It attests to the importance of our past and teaching the past. If you don't respect your past, your future is only reliving the past. In this consumer based society, where everything is disposable, it teaches us the importance of remembering and understanding. It's beyond Toronto. It's world history.

How did you acquire it?

It was from my son, he was doing a pottery workshop at the ROM. He's eight years old now.

How old do you think it is?

It's not that old. Maybe only a couple of years.

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