History In The Making: #Covidmemory (COMEM)

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis, but its local impact on Luxembourg will be determined in part by how people memorialise its effects in the moment, and how they will remember it later. Luxembourg declared a state of emergency on 18 March which dramatically reshaped public and private life. Schools, businesses and shops are closed. Students stay home and learn online. New rules govern home workers and cross-border commuters. With no end yet in sight, it is already clear that we are experiencing an extraordinary moment in the collective memory of Luxembourg. With the online platform #covidmemory, the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH) at the University of Luxembourg will offer people living or working in Luxembourg the opportunity to share their personal experiences with one another and to archive them for future generations. Contributors can post their photos, videos or stories on an open web-based platform from their personal computers or mobile devices. A team of reviewers and curators will oversee the website in the coming weeks and months. The #covidmemory project is inspired by the "Rapid Response Collecting" approach that has been used in public history and museum circles as a way to collect the stories, material culture, digital creations and ephemera of historical events as Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 and the 2015 terrorist attacks in France.