When Objects Begin to Speak — När föremål börjar tala
Originally published on Novisali, February 2026.
In When Objects Begin to Speak, Novisali reflects on still life not as a static genre, but as a practice of listening. Rather than capturing a moment, the work explores what happens when time, attention, and arrangement allow objects to reveal the stories they carry.
The reflection moves beyond objects as aesthetic elements and instead approaches them as carriers of memory. Through three still life compositions built around objects from the Lindahl family, the images become quiet constellations — not portraits of people, but traces of lives once lived. Meaning emerges gradually, through light, material, and the relationship between things that have endured across generations.
Some key reflections:
- Still life becomes an act of waiting rather than capturing.
- Objects hold memory through use, repair, and continuity.
- Light functions not as drama, but as presence and continuation.
- Meaning emerges through attention and listening rather than explanation.
- Ordinary objects can carry invisible inheritance across generations.
At its core, the reflection suggests that stillness allows stories to surface. When we slow down enough to remain with objects — and with what they represent — they begin to speak, not through words but through association, memory, and quiet recognition.
Message:
To listen to objects is to listen to time itself. In the ordinary things that remain, traces of meaning continue — connecting past, present, and future through attention and care.
Read the full reflection here:
https://novisali.com/when-objects-begin-to-speak-nar-foremal-borjar-tala/
About Liselotte Engstam, Digoshen & Novisali
Liselotte Engstam is an explorer of perspectives, an adventurer of ideas, a pathfinder of meaning, and a guide of timeless transitions. She bridges the worlds of board leadership and art, helping organizations and individuals navigate disruption while nurturing creativity and reflection.
As founder of Digoshen, she works with boards and leaders to expand future insights and reduce digital and sustainability blindspots. Through research, networks, and executive programs, Digoshen supports responsible value creation in the digital and sustainable age, contributing thought leadership via books, articles, events, Digoshen Exploring Leaders podcast, and blogs.
She also serves as Chair of the Boards Impact Forum in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Climate Governance. The Forum convenes board members, thought leaders, and experts in dialogues, webinars, and collaborative events, accelerating action on climate, AI, and sustainability.
Through her artistic practice as Novisali, Liselotte explores creativity and meaning. Her watercolors, digitally reimagined, invite reflection and renewal, offering perspectives that connect head, heart, and hand, and complementing her work with leaders and boards.
→ Discover more at www.Digoshen.com
→ Learn more at www.BoardsImpactForum.com
→ Find more about Liselotte at www.liselotteengstam.com and her Google Scholar page
→ Explore Liselotte’s art and reflections at www.novisali.com and follow on Instagram @novisali_arts