Words and art by: Talia Davis

For as long as I can remember I have had an obsession with collecting stuff.

Am I on the path to becoming a hoarder? Maybe. Is it a problem? Slightly. Does my room look like a bomb site due to all the things I have collected over the years? Definitely.

Although I have a lot of different collections — magazines, stuffed toys, and a recently rediscovered eraser collection (don’t ask…)—my most prized and impressive collection has to be my postcards.

Spanning over six years, the collection consists of over 80 different postcards from all sorts of places. Some were bought, such as my 20 plus NGV postcards (NGV sponsor me please), but found some of my favourites in coffee shops, on the side of the road and in op shops. Some were even gifted to me by strangers during overseas visits.

For many years this collection was a massive visual mess on my bedroom wall. But because of one too many
jump scares from waking up to David Hockney staring at me, they have now been retired to my many designated collection drawers.

Each of these postcards acts as a reminder of cherished memories of culture and people. Not only are they my memories memorialised on the colourful paper, they also encapsulate the important cultures and identities of countless individuals who I have never met.

Despite the logistical nightmare of this ever-growing collection — as I am very quickly running out of little
hiding spots that I can store them in without running the risk of them getting thrown out by respective family members — I continue to deem this collection worthy of keeping because of the conversations it facilitates with the people around me.

It’s fun showing someone this crazy collection for the first time – as they sift through the heavily Blutacked mess and ask for the story behind my sign language or milk bar postcard. It offers me and others, a way to connect to places we may have never been, or tap into an identity that is so different to how we experience the world. It reminds me to look up and slow down.

To many more years of collecting coloured paper….

P.S. Mum, please use this article as evidence that my hoarding is for the sake of education and research.