Hastings Museum and Art Gallery

Hastings Museum seeks volunteers to keep Covid-19 journals

 What to do in these strange limbo days? We are constantly being told that these  are unprecedented times. And indeed they are. HOT’s  Lauris Morgan-Griffiths was intrigued by Hastings Museum and Art Gallery‘s call-out for volunteers to keep a diary of  these Coronavirus days.

Diary entry

Everyone’s experience will be different and, consequently, interesting. No one has been in total lockdown like this before. Not even during World War II, when life went on – theatres and musical halls were open, dances continued. People laughed… and cried. Even the smallest thing – the wonder of nature, a forgotten tune or song, memories of childhood, rediscovered crafts or arts, learning something new, happy/sad moments –  will illustrate a bird’s eye view of these times.

What could you write about?

Your individual experience of living day-to-day through the COVID-19 crisis, and how this is impacting on your work, hobbies, relationships, family life, emotions and perspectives on life. You can write as much or as little as you like, but do write something every day.

Things you could write about:

What’s happened to day
How this has changed the way you live your life/spend your day
Things you are finding difficult
How you are keeping busy/calm/fit/well
Things that have made you laugh or cry – even small things are important
How do you cope with boredom – are you learning new skills?
Keeping in contact with friends and relatives. Adapting to new technology.
Anything you have discovered about yourself, or about people around you
How you think this experience might change you, your family and friends, or the wider community
Remember sounds are always interesting and can evoke fresh memories: change in traffic noise; bird song; children.

Even the dogs are social distancing © James Mair

Also, any photographers who would like to  document this time, I am sure images alongside diary entries would be welcome.

Kim Forward, leader of Hastings Council said, “Coronavirus (COVID-19) has transformed every part of our lives in just a few weeks. We are experiencing restrictions on our daily lives that have never happened at any point in our country’s history before.

“As this is such an important point in our history, we believe it’s essential for the museum to start recording what’s happening.”

The Museum is hoping the journals will point up happy experiences as well as difficult ones. “We are asking people to donate their journal to the museum collection when the pandemic is over. This means it will become part of our collections and be used in the future to help people understand what this experience was like for Hastings people. The journals may get used in future exhibitions and online to explain what it was like in Hastings during the COVID-19 crisis.”

How to register to take part?                                                                            

If you live in or around Hastings and are interested in taking part, email the museum  and they will then contact you.

Also in: Covid-19