MUSINGS: A PANDEMIC TIME CAPSULE

Beyond Tradition | Erika Serodio

At the beginning of April, as the world I knew closed its doors, I read something that has stayed with me. George Saunders, an English professor at Syracuse University, wrote a letter to his students that was published in The New Yorker. In his letter, he described the pandemic as an event "where all of the drama is happening in private." He asked his students, urgently, “Are you keeping records of the e-mails and texts you’re getting, the thoughts you’re having, the way your hearts and minds are reacting to this strange new way of living?” The records you keep, Saunders advised them, will convince future generations of what happened to us.

Time Capsule | Source

This sentiment seems so important to me as I continue to question the future of museums. I wondered how this pandemic would be remembered by others in the future and around the world. And I wondered how the local experiences of this pandemic would be different from each other. How could museums foster this kind of remembering as the pandemic is happening? Especially while museum doors remained closed. The pandemic has forced so many of us to live moment to moment. It is not as easy as it sounds to record our feelings and fears right now.

Remember | Source

I recently came across a project designed by The Bentway. Their city-wide public art installation is a brilliant answer to George Saunders’ demand for records of the pandemic. The Bentway commissioned twenty Toronto artists to respond to the question: “What words are you living by right now?” The artists responded with illustrated words that were projected on billboards, painted on building walls, and plastered on trucks that drove through the city. The project is called #ItsAllRightNow. The next phase of the project asks the public to respond to the same question and submit their words. In 2021, these public submissions will be made into a new exhibition that will aim to help us remember Toronto’s psyche during this moment.