VICTORIA, BC—Today the Royal BC Museum launched COVID-19 Collecting For Our Time, a project that invites British Columbians to tell the stories of their experiences during the pandemic.
The museum and archives will work alongside communities to gather BC’s pandemic stories now, as they occur, and will develop a longer-term collecting project capturing their legacy. The Royal BC Museum wants to hear from the people of BC: what should be collected, and how will BC communities want to remember this historic time?
“The pandemic and the resulting directives from government and health authorities have changed much of what we experience in our daily lives, from the outdoors, to technology, to even something as simple as grocery shopping,” said Royal BC Museum CEO Prof. Jack Lohman. “By providing their insights, BC citizens will have the opportunity to describe how they feel history should be written.”
The COVID-19 Collecting For Our Time project reflects the evolving nature of museums as spaces for reflection and commentary about significant social and environmental changes.
The project is also a way to share with the public why and how museums collect, and to illustrate the long-term value of a collection. The project is an open invitation for all BC citizens to participate in the museum process.
Right now, the Royal BC Museum is preparing to collect perspectives, photos and objects that will help tell the story of this moment for future generations.
In this, the first stage of COVID-19 Collecting For Our Time, the museum and archives is collecting information. The museum invites the citizens of BC to write to forourtime@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca and describe what they think should be captured for the future.
For more information about the Royal BC Museum’s COVID-19 Collecting For Our Time project, including an overview and FAQs, visit royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/tell-us-your-covid-19-story.
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About the Royal BC Museum: The Royal BC Museum explores the province’s human history and natural history, advances new knowledge and understanding of BC, and provides a dynamic forum for discussion and a place for reflection. The museum and archives celebrate culture and history, telling the stories of BC in ways that enlighten, stimulate and inspire. Located in Victoria on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen (Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations), we are a hub of community connections in BC–onsite, offsite and online–taking pride in our collective histories.
Media contact:
news@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
