'The Viral Archive' is a collaborative project between archaeologists at the University of Warwick, University College Cork (Ireland), and University College London, that is sending out a global invitation, for you to capture the visual record of the signs, marks, and graffiti that are keeping us safe, together, and uplifted during this pandemic.
So far the team has received over 500 contributions from around the world through their @Viral_Archive Twitter page, and are hoping to grow this as an archive of the times. Examples submitted to date include: pictures of rainbows, decorated trees and painted stones, chalk street art, and virus-related graffiti.
Rosie Everett, from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick comments:
"We see this project as an act of bearing witness to, and capturing the changes that can occur in our local landscapes due to a global crisis, and the personal and broader social responses that can emerge as a form of resilience.
"This is a global emergency, unprecedented in the past century, in which the Viral Archive encourages people to recognise the changes in their environments and make a record of it first-hand. Given the nature of the pandemic and the distance we have had to observe within our communities, we were charged with the task of developing new and innovative ways of capturing people's shared experiences, and we found that social media platforms such as Twitter really allowed us to do that."
If you would like your photos to be featured in the archive please tag the Twitter account @Viral_Archive, and use one of the hashtags, #ViralArchive or #ViralShadows.
Keep your safety paramount, only venture out in accordance with national regional or state guidelines. Only capture images in passing, do not travel specifically to capture images. Respect people's privacy, be mindful of protecting your own location, and be as general in terms of location as you feel comfortable with.
