Recording the pandemic—museums are collecting COVID-19 artefacts

The Coronavirus is a pandemic that has affected the world on an epic scale. Needless to say, it is a major event in the history of mankind. Now, Washington D.C.’s Smithsonian curators are working on a project that would keep a record of this pandemic. Coronavirus artefacts are being collected as official records for this unfortunate world event.
The list of things that the curators are collecting are rather interesting, such as personal protective gears, test kits, letters from patients, ventilators, and even grocery lists. These are, after all, the highlights of this difficult time in world history. Towards this effort, Smithsonian has also launched a new initiative that they are calling, Moments of Resilience storytelling. They would like to hear your stories, of how communities are supporting each other during this time.


The National Museum of American History and the Anacostia Community Museum are also working to collect such artefacts. However, they are careful not to put pressure on supplies, and hence are waiting for the pandemic to come to an end in order to really collect all the important materials. So, in the future, you can take your children to a museum and let him or her know the time when you lived through this deadly global pandemic.
Not just the Smithsonian, but even the Wien Museum of Vienna has started a similar project called Corona Collection Project, which aims to bring in objects related to the pandemic. The project has reportedly received more than 2000 photographs till date.

On the other hand, London’s V&A Museum has started a project called Pandemic Objects, which is focussing on Google Street View, home-made signs, and streaming services. Yet another museum doing similar work is the Cologne Museum in Germany.