Collecting memories of the pandemic
Covidmemory
After the first lockdown measures were introduced in Luxembourg in mid-March 2020, Sean Takats initiated covidmemory.lu, an online platform to collect photos, videos, stories and interviews related to COVID-19 from ordinary people living or working in Luxembourg.
Takats recruited various fellow campaigners from the C²DH (initially Christoph Brüll, Stefan Krebs, Lars Wieneke, Daniele Guido and Robert Beta), and later more colleagues joined to help with the curation of the submissions. Covidmemory.lu was thus a response to an unprecedented work situation: it not only provided an opportunity for people to share their experiences but also served as a way of keeping the team motivated. The main goal of the platform, however, has always been to preserve experiences of the pandemic for future generations.
Covidmemory.lu was launched on 3 April 2020 and attracted regular radio, television and newspaper coverage throughout the year. The communication campaign extended to social media and included a poster campaign in bars, shops and public places throughout Luxembourg.
In April, Stefan Krebs (PI) and Sean Takats acquired some funding under the FNR’s COVID-19 fast-track call for the technical development of the platform (to include additional collections and to display small exhibitions). We organised a round table with representatives of other COVID-19 collection initiatives in Luxembourg on 15 September 2020 and an international workshop with initiators of European platforms similar to covidmemory.lu on 26 November 2020.
