'We will remember them': Covid-19 and Grassroots Memorial Practices
- Funded by British Academy
- Total publications:0 publications
Grant number: COV19\201422
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Key facts
Disease
COVID-19Known Financial Commitments (USD)
$13,077.18Funder
British AcademyPrincipal Investigator
PendingResearch Location
United KingdomLead Research Institution
Loughborough University, School of Design and Creative ArtsResearch Priority Alignment
N/A
Research Category
Secondary impacts of disease, response & control measures
Research Subcategory
Social impacts
Special Interest Tags
N/A
Study Type
Non-Clinical
Clinical Trial Details
N/A
Broad Policy Alignment
Pending
Age Group
Unspecified
Vulnerable Population
Unspecified
Occupations of Interest
Unspecified
Abstract
In March 2020, the WHO classified Covid-19-a novel coronavirus-as a pandemic. By late-May, the UK death toll had passed 35,000. The restrictions on burial rituals and closure of faith spaces may have impacted the commemoration of Covid-19 victims but the emergence of grassroots memorial practices-from yellow hearts in the windows of bereaved households to crowdfunding campaigns for local tribute events-has demonstrated the extent to which communities have adapted ceremonial processes in a period of trauma. This project will investigate these makeshift memorial activities and their post-lockdown counterparts. Data will be analysed to assess their societal role: the methods used, the groups involved and the relationship to community resilience. Alongside scholarly publications and two exhibitions, project outcomes will include the founding of The Covid-19 Memorial Archive, a digital collection of artefacts from across the UK, reflecting the scale and diversity of commemorative responses to Covid-19.