Remnants of Catastrophe: The Materiality and Memorialisation of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Described by some as a ‘paradigmatic example of an Anthropocene disease’ (Antó et al.), COVID-19 presented the world with a catastrophe that, whilst itself was invisible, bore massive material consequences. Now, five years on from the first UK lockdowns, what do we make of the material remnants the pandemic left behind and the memorials that have grown in response to its memory? 

The Anthropocene epoch presents us with the reality of ‘repetitive’ catastrophes – of what use to be once-in-a-generation events becoming ever more frequent and devasting. If future generations are to experience something similar to the pandemic, and COVID-19 is simply the ‘first’ disease of more to come, does it change the messaging behind the act of memorialisation? If a memorial is a poignant point of communication between past, present, and future peoples, what could we say to future generations that may be experiencing a ‘repetition’ of the same thing? Moreover, if our ‘unofficial’ memorials, such as the National Covid Memorial Wall, continue to grow concurrently with ever rising death tolls, is the pandemic even over ‘enough’ to memorialise? Every public bathroom in the country still bears the scars of it in the form of posters and notices, every desk within the university library promises a policy of ‘keeping safe on campus’, our cash points and pharmacies retain sets of luminous footprints upon the pavement which encourage us to be distanced from one another. Do these materials provide us with enough to visually and haptically dissect our relationship to the pandemic and its spectral presence within both our public and private lives? Are these material remnants ‘dead’ enough to be considered a kind of pandemic ‘ruin’? ‘Memorable’ enough to be a site of commemoration? Or are they simply materials in stasis, anticipating a future usage?

This session seeks to explore the materiality and memorialisation of catastrophe through its remnants; community memorials, public health posters, and expired personal stockpiles of FFP3 masks and hand sanitiser, to consider the effectiveness of memorialising an event that has yet to conclude. 

The event will be followed by a reception.