16.04.2020
Museum Europäischer Kulturen
The coronavirus pandemic is currently affecting the daily lives of everyone in Europe. The Museum Europäischer Kulturen (MEK, Museum of European Cultures) collects, researches, preserves, presents and elucidates everyday culture in Europe from the 18th century to the present. Accordingly, the MEK is now putting out a call to people throughout Europe under the hashtag #CollectingCorona. It asks them to share their personal impressions, thoughts and accounts to document for future generations how Europeans feel about the pandemic.
Curator Judith Schühle brings up several examples: “The streets are empty and it’s unusually quiet. Most people are making an effort to have as little social contact as possible. I’m surprised how quickly our society has taken on new words: social distancing, N95 (a type of mask), FFP2 (another type of mask), PPE (personal protective equipment). I would not have known what they meant just a short time ago. At the moment you can still go for a walk, if you keep at least 1.5 metres (approx. five feet) away from everyone around you. Children are not currently supposed to come into contact with risk groups, which means that grandchildren should not be visiting their grandparents for the time being.”
Regardless of language, all anonymous or credited texts, photos and videos sent to the email address mek[at]smb.spk-berlin.de will become part of the MEK Collection, in accordance with the consent form of the person submitting them. Our blog entry #CollectingCorona offers first impressions and further information about this call for submissions.