Since the COVID-19 virus turned our lives inside out, communities all around Elmbridge have showed courage, love and compassion on a scale that none of us could have predicted.
Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre, R C Sherriff Trust and Elmbridge Museum would like to make a lasting record of these local stories and memories by creating an exhibition and a book that will be on sale as a keepsake. We invite you all to send us your stories, as photographs, artwork, video or words. We need contributions in the following areas and any others that you can think of:
Ideas to get you going:
1.The Rainbow Project is creating a photographic collage of a rainbow made of colour photos. Children’s rainbow artwork from windows, adult rainbow art, street art etc.
2.Films – we challenge you to make a short video film summing up your experience of Lockdown. These could be conceptual or literal, humorous, they could be your video diary of standing in a queue for prescriptions, or visiting a loved one in a socially distant way.
3.The NHS Clap – send in photos and video of the way your street/community has responded to the Thursday Claps.
4.Elmbridge Heroes – tributes to people who have stepped up beyond the call of duty – e.g. Miss Polly’s in Molesey, Three Rivers Academy in Walton who have made PPE, teachers, carers, NHS workers, supermarket workers, pharmacists, bin men, etc.
5.Memorials – tributes to people who have sadly died.
6.Video of zoom events, quizzes or life in lockdown.
7.Music – have you learnt an instrument, streamed or composed something?
8.Cooking – beautiful bakes or strange recipes.
9.Shortages – photos of empty shelves at the start of lockdown – lack of toilet rolls – empty shelves etc.
10.Lock down games? Treasure hunts.
11.VE Day celebrations.
12.Easter Day.
13.Birthdays in Lockdown.
14.Lock-Down Haircuts.
15.Sewing Scrubs, Laundry bags etc.
16.Any objects that could be exhibited (scrubs, bags, masks or something that you have grown, sculpted or made).
Cllr Janet Turner, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, said, “The exhibition and book will be based on what you tell us. Think about what you would tell people, in the future, if they asked you what it was like to live through lockdown. Elmbridge Museum look forward to working in partnership with R C Sherriff Trust and Riverhouse Arts Centre to keep a record of the residents’ lockdown mementos and will catalogue them as artefacts. This is your local current or modern history and will be an interesting era for future generations to explore”. Emily Boulting, Director of the Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre, said, “We are very excited to put together this community exhibition and book and invite you to think about what you would want to remember from this time. Is it the extraordinary community spirit that helped you go through these difficult times or the fantastic achievement of unsung heroes? Is it the incredible variety of online activities or the array of technology that helped to keep in touch with friends or loved ones? Let us know. Nothing is too humble, we are interested in the meaning of each object.”Peter Allen, Director of RC Sherriff Trust, said, “The Elmbridge Lockdown Chronicles will record the extraordinary and the mundane events that kept us going during the pandemic. We look forward to receiving your thoughts in a multitude of media, whether they are dancing videos, NHS clapping clips, rainbow drawings, images of whacky haircuts or photos of creative culinary delights. All these memories will be brought to life in the future exhibition and book”
Please send us your photos/videos/poems/music or any enquiries at chronicles@riverhousebarn.co.uk.
Please note that by sending us your contributions you agree to them being reproduced as part of the exhibition, in the accompanying book and for publicity.
Visit riverhousebarn.co.uk/elmbridge-lockdown-chronicles/ for further information.