How to collect a crisis: Displaying and collecting COVID-19

Goggins, Sophie

How to collect a crisis: Displaying and collecting COVID-19

Resource type

Abstract

Creator (person)

Goggins, Sophie

Date published

2023

Abstract

COVID-19 is not the first, nor will it be the last, global pandemic or health crisis. The Influenza pandemic of 1918 killed an estimate 50 million people worldwide and had far reaching impact and consequences. However, in the National Museums Scotland collection, made up of 12 million objects, only two relate directly to the 1918 pandemic. This historic lack of material culture spurred the museum to attempt to capture this pandemic in a more meaningful way. Throughout 2020 to today the museum has worked through rapid response collecting to acquire objects which represent this pandemic. We worked to balance collecting material culture which represents the national, and international, crisis with stories of personal crisis. The resulting collection of objects has allowed the museum to display COVID-19 in a way which weaves scientific and medical objects with personal stories. This paper will explore ways in which National Museums Scotland has been collecting material culture relating to the COVID-19 crisis in Scotland and ask the question, “How does a museum collect a crisis?”.