Pandemic Accession Activity

Museums all over the world, including the Autry Museum of the American West and the Museum of the City of New York (as profiled in a New York Times article from late May), are collecting objects and belongings right now, hoping to capture the pandemic, the overdue American reckoning with systemic racism and anti-Blackness, the election, and the overarching historical moment. In fact, Smith’s special collections are working on the Covid-19 Chronicles. If a museum was to ask for an object of yours to add to this type of collection, what would you offer, and why? Would you want your objects to be collected in the first place? How would you want the museum to display and interpret your belongings? Would there be any concerns you might have over a museum accessioning your objects from this moment?

Pick an item that you feel symbolizes your experiences of this moment to be accessioned into a museum’s pandemic collection.

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