We are delighted that twenty-two of the photographs on this blog have been selected to appear in an ‘Extraordinary Drawers’ exhibition at the National Science and Media Museum, on now. Please vote for your overall winner from these photographs below. The winner will be announced on the 2nd July!
Flowers and a bit of sparkle
This is the drawer where I keep my collection of scarves and brooches built up over a lifetime! I love the way they all look together folded in the drawer and as well as being things I like visually, providing a way of expressing myself by adding colour and sparkle to otherwise dull outfits, most of them were purchased on holidays and happy days of shopping with friends and family, so they are important to me on so many levels 🙂
Elizabeth Anderson
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A Tibetan Buddhist Drawer
The contents of my drawer are a range of items associated with or specifically used in Tibetan Buddhist practices, some of which may be more familiar than others.
The contents are laid on a couple of katas, or offering scarves. These are traditionally white or cream (but can be the colours of the elements), with auspicious symbols such as the eternal knot, and mantras, woven in, and are offered to high Lamas (often with a donation) as a sign of devotion & respect. In Nepal they are also offered to family or close friends on important occasions such as starting on a journey, or as welcome.
The drawer contents, left to right are;
Prayer Flags on which are printed auspicious prayers and symbols. Prayer flags are traditionally flown from high places such as mountain passes, the tops of monasteries or other buildings etc. The wind blows the good wishes & prayers contained in the flags to all beings.
Dorje (left) and Bell (surrounded by a green Mala) A Mala has 108 main beads & is similar to a rosary, with a similar purpose, that is to count the number of recitations of prayers & mantras, and also as an aid in meditation.
There is much symbolism within Tibetan Buddhism. Briefly, a dorje (Tibetan) is used together with the bell in many religious ceremonies. The dorje, held in the right hand symbolises the male aspect, & method and skilful means (compassion) of achieving enlightenment; the bell, held in the left hand represents the female aspect & wisdom. Together they represent the inseparability of wisdom & compassion in the enlightened mind stream.
Om Mani Peme Hung (the Tibetan characters for the compassion mantra/prayer) It is believed that saying the syllables or hearing or seeing them invokes the powerful & benevolent blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of limitless & unconditional compassion. And it is also believed that these qualities as aspects of our true innate nature.
Small hand held prayer wheel – prayer wheels are always rotated clockwise. There are many sizes of prayer wheels, some of which are hand held, others which are mounted within a frame – these can be several metres high, & shaped as a large cylindrical drum. All prayer wheels contain paper printed with millions of a single mantra such as Om Mani Peme Hung, so the blessings of this mantra are released when the prayer wheel is rotated.
Books many books are now available written by great Tibetan meditation masters & teachers, explaining the ideas, symbolism & different Tibetan practices, from teachings which have been carefully & exactly handed down from teacher to disciple for hundreds of years. So these teachings are pure, and have “provenance”, and are not simply one persons interpretation.
Roz Roberts Huddersfield
Onesies!
These are my favourite onesies. I’ve got 14 of them! They keep me warm and make me feel relaxed.
Rachael Stead
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Timetables
This drawer is the top one of three in a chest which I got from a charity shop in Brighouse. I liked the smoothness of the drawers, though I mostly use the top one. I use it for storing all my bus and train timetables, plus any small things like pills, notebooks and old cassette tapes.
Christopher Hester
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Peace and War
A fuschia coloured book nestles peacefully-the Qu’ran. When I first set eyes on this divine creation I fell in love, the intricate patterns led me astray.  But deep down the heart sobbed the origins of the book- Palestine. Peace and war live side by side in my small bedside draw.  Thus, my question is this, then why as human beings can we not live side by side in peace in this vast world?
Shaheen Hussain
Prayer Times
I have recently achieved my life time’s ambition and opened an ice-cream and sweet shop in Bradford serving the local community sweet treats.
This drawer is in the shop front – I keep the Muslim prayer timetable in it, as I pray five times a day, and this reminds me to do so, and of the times to pray. Whenever I pray, I thank God for my shop, and ask Him to bless it.
The stick with pink paint on is the stick I used to mix the paint when we were decorating the shop. It reminds me of the hard work that went in to setting up this shop!
Bombay Stores
Bombay Stores is a true landmark in Bradford! Established in 1967 by Abdul and Maryam Kader as a small shop on Great Horton Road, it has since grown in to the largest Asian Department in Great Britain, and is still managed and run by the Kader family. It is seen as a pioneer of the Indian fashion we know today. Bombay Stores is famed locally and nationally for it’s amazing fabrics, as well as outfits and accessories.
This particular drawer is full of colourful jewellery, most commonly worn by brides for their weddings. It’s a real Aladdin’s cave!
Our family archive
The first photograph is of one of several drawers in which are stored our family “archive”.  From being a teenager to when our sons were very small, I somehow found the time to make scrapbooks which contained not only photos, but also tickets, greeting cards, certificates, news clippings and the most memorable of their drawings or early writings.  The time for such things soon disappeared and all the treasured bits and pieces now get randomly stuffed into drawers like these.  There’s no order to them so it’s one big chronological jumble of precious memories.
The second is of the drawer containing my pots of different coloured glass powders.  I make fused glass items as a hobby.  You can get all sorts of wonderful effects by sieving glass powders on to other glass pieces.  As you can see, I have quite a collection.
Rachel Parkinson
Extraordinary Drawers 