Since March 2020, the Nordic Museum has been collecting stories from everyday life in pandemic times. Now they want to follow it up by also capturing the emotions when the vaccine is here.
Among all the stories that have come into the museum during the past year, the hugs in particular have stood out as significant for people’s experience of loss and longing. That is the opinion of Anna Fredholm, who is curator at the Department of Cultural History at the Nordic Museum. She believes that it is very universal to want to be close to someone you have longed for and therefore the museum would like to capture those moments.
– I think a lot goes through the body. Relief perhaps and joy I think many will describe, but maybe also a little worry. It was a long time since you allowed yourself to hug someone and maybe that feeling is in the back of your head; is this really okay? But extremely long-awaited, I think it is by very many, says Anna Fredholm.
Want to preserve memories for future generations
The contributions that are expected to come in will be part of the story of the pandemic that will be saved for the future in the Nordic Museum’s archives.
– We would like to give an overall picture to the afterlife of this pandemic that we have experienced. Our mission is to collect memories and stories from the time we live in now so that future generations will get an insight into what really happened during this pandemic year.
Hear Anna Fredholm tell more about the collection in the clip above.
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