Building a collective memory of the lockdown with a participatory documentary collection

27/04/2020 - 16:11

The goal is also to enable city residents to leave behind a record of what in a few years’ time will be worth remembering, going beyond what the media or official sources say.

Photographs, written accounts and videos on how local residents have experienced the lockdown are going to join the Arxiu Municipal’s documentary collection, to give voice to city residents during a historic period.

Lockdown memories is a space for collecting experiences during the lockdown which Barcelonians wish to share and which are going to become part of the city’s collective memory. Preserving individual and collective accounts of city residents is a way of building a joint, plural and intercultural historical record, that features the maximum number of voices making up the period experienced and going beyond official and institutional sources.

The initiative starts with a collection of first-hand accounts through the decidim.barcelona citizen participatory space and continues with a second stage, where the Arxiu Municipal de Barcelona will be studying and analysing the shared information and putting it at everyone’s disposal. The project will also include contributions made for city residents over the last few weeks through the Barcelona Recorda virtual condolences book and the Estimat Diari children’s space, in addition to data from citizen surveys and narratives expressed through social networks.

First-hand accounts from professionals from the municipal essential services are also going to be collected through the Arxiu Municipal and in parallel to the Lockdown Memories initiative, to document their experiences during the weeks of the Covid-19 crisis and present them to all city residents.

What types of accounts can be sent?

Stories, narrations, reflections, examples of grief and solidarity expressed through written documents, photos, sound and video files.

Where can the documents be shared?

In the Lockdown Memories space.