Accessing Prince via his possessions: 7,000, and counting

Chanhassen, Minnesota

IN August, when Angie Marchese became director of archives at Paisley Park, the rock star Prince's studio and residence, one of the first things she did was to get rid of all the candles. Festooning nearly every room of the compound, they came in all sizes, shapes, colours and scents (including a few of Prince's own aromatic blends).

"We replaced all the real candles with artificial candles," Ms Marchese said in an anteroom at the compound, as her team prepared for a series of events marking the anniversary of Prince's death on Friday. (Her crew catalogued and archived the originals.) "We still wanted the essence of the candles, and how they made the rooms feel, without the fire hazard," she explained. "Prince can burn Paisley Park down, but I can't."