Archiving Covid-19 Communities

At the University of Amsterdam, Julia Noordegraaf (Professor of Digital Heritage) and Tobias Blanke (University Professor of Humanities and AI) have started the initiative to collect and archive ephemeral sources that document how individuals and communities experience the COVID-19 crisis. On this platform, citizens can upload their own documentation and share their experiences with the ways in which the crisis affects their daily lives, thus compiling a personal COVID-19 crisis diary. In the longer term, these will be interesting sources for public and participatory historiography with regard to this special period in the most recent world history.

Various initiatives have already been taken by, for example, archival institutions, museums, heritage institutions, documentation centers, libraries, artists’ collectives, etc. to document the COVID-19 crisis. The UvA collaborates with the Amsterdam Museum (Corona in the City) and with the Dutch Digital Heritage Network through the National Library of the Netherlands (COVID-19-related websites) and the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Verhalen uit het hart). Suggestions and expressions of interest to collaborate can be shared with the PI’s via the ‘Contact’ page.