The Millennium Gallery’s ‘Stories From The Pandemic’ exhibition will showcase individual’s experiences of the Coronavirus years in an immersive staged ‘lockdown house.’
The exhibition will form part of a lasting testimony to the people lost during the Covid-19 pandemic, with compassion being at the centre of the project.
Sheffield stories have been gathered through written postcards and online contributions and will be displayed in multiple rooms of the constructed home.
The showcase is a collaboration between Opus, Compassionate Sheffield, and the Sheffield City Council, and is set to open this weekend.
Nick Deayton, from Compassionate Sheffield said: “The truth is we’ll never get the whole story or everybody’s story, but we tried hard to make sure that we had a representative spread of the city.
“By talking to all these people and by recording all of this we are representing individual voices and perspectives as part of history.
“A very small handful will go into the exhibition but all those stories that have been gathered will go into the city’s archives and that felt like an important part.
“The whole thing has been an incredible partnership and the coming together of so many people.”
Sheffield’s wider Covid memorial activity includes the creation of a steel willow tree with quotes from people’s stories engraved on its branches.
The sculpture has been designed by architect and sculptor George King and it will be unveiled at Balm Green Gardens on or around the National Day of Reflection on 23rd March.
Tim Feben, from the social enterprise Opus, has been the lead on gathering residents’ testimonies and designing the exhibition.
He said: “You can’t help but be moved by some of the stories of hardship and loss, and this exhibition won’t shy away from these sometimes hard-to-hear stories.
“I hope this exhibition might help us see the people around us in a new light and with a renewed sense of empathy.”
The programme will combine a weekend-long creative session, featuring demonstrations, hands-on activities and workshops that encourages participants to leave their reflections.
Terry Fox, Leader of the Sheffield City Council said: “It is so important that the losses and challenges which faced everyone in Sheffield’s communities in the face of the pandemic, and the resilience and togetherness that everyone demonstrated during that time is highlighted in this exhibition.
“Sheffield City Council is proud to be a member of the partnership that sought out stories from the pandemic and I encourage as many people as possible to go along to the Millennium Gallery to hear and see what their fellow citizens have to say.”