The traveling exhibition called, "Picturing the Pandemic: Images from the Pandemic Journaling Project" will boast four locations, including a main exhibition site at the Providence Public Library and three satellite exhibitions on Brown University’s campus. Each site will have its own title based on what is showcased in that particular location. The Providence Public Library exhibition titled, "Picturing the Pandemic: Images from the Pandemic Journaling Project and the Rhode Island Covid-19 Archive" is a collaboration between the Pandemic Journaling Project, Providence Public Library, and the Rhode Island Historical Society. It will feature images and other media from both the Pandemic Journaling Project and the Rhode Island Covid Archive.
The main exhibition opens on March 22nd with an opening reception at the library that evening featuring a panel discussion with Co-Founders Katherine Mason, Brown University and Sarah Willen, UConn, the creators of the Rhode Island Covid Archive, and the curators of the Providence Public Library exhibition — with the possibility of others.
The Brown locations are as follows:
The Stephen Roberts Campus Center, in collaboration with the Haffenreffer Museum
The Swearer Center, in collaboration with Mason’s ANTH 1515 students
PSTC, supported by PSTC
In addition to individual titles, each location will have its own character. The Campus Center location, titled "The Pandemic Journaling Project: A Grassroots Collaborative Ethnography" will focus on why and how the Pandemic Journaling Project was created, online journaling as ethnographic methodology, international reach, and the overall outcome of the initiative assessed by its co-founders. The Swearer Center location (title forthcoming) will be curated by Mason’s students and have a theme related to mental health during the pandemic. The student group consists of 10 individuals who will produce their own work of art that speaks in some way to the Pandemic Journaling Project materials. Those materials will be displayed alongside the student pieces. The PSTC location (title forthcoming) will focus on population health related themes such as mass vaccination and fertility during the pandemic. This exhibition will display photographs.
Providence is just one stop for the "Picturing the Pandemic" exhibition. Its next locations include Heidelberg, Germany and Mexico City. The exhibition was originally created in Hartford by Sarah Willen and her UConn colleague Alexis Boylan. The stop in Providence will be organized and managed by Co-Founders Katherine Mason and Sarah Willen, though they are only directly curating the Campus Center and PSTC displays. The co-founders are working closely with the Pandemic Journaling Project’s partners on the main exhibition at Providence Public Library. The head curator at the library is Christina Bevilacqua.
Important Dates to Remember:
The main exhibition opens on March 22, 2023 and closes June 30, 2023
The PSTC location at Brown University opens March 22, 2023 and closes in June 2023
The Campus Center location at Brown University opens on March 23, 2023 and closes in early 2024
The Swearer Center location at Brown University opens March 24, 2023 and closes in June 2023
Visit the Pandemic Journaling Project's website to learn more