In January of this year, Tyree Boyd-Pates joined the staff of Autry Museum of the American West following a successful tenure at the California African American Museum. His new role as associate curator could not have come at a more important time, coinciding almost directly with the outbreak of Covid-19 across the US.
“Museums have a responsibility to meet history head on,” he notes. His role has morphed into collecting the shared experience of the pandemic, which he refers to as “a chance to record how the West navigated this epidemic.”
He continued: “It’s about clarifying this moment in history that is so bewildering and confusing and doing that by sourcing face masks, journal entries and home recipes from our communities.”
Indeed, Boyd-Pates’ work mimics that of the Rapid Response Collection in the V&A. These institutions are not alone in collecting history as and when it happens, though it seems probable that the pandemic has compounded their actions somewhat.
From the artwork of Jake Sheiner, who has painted quarantine scenes since mid-March, to the diary of Franklin Wong, a six-year-old who has been recording the pandemic accompanied by crayon illustrations.
According to The New York Times, “Museums are not just seeking artists’ works but everyone’s memories — the more personal, the better — in an effort that recalls the repositories of first-person testimony, along with material evidence and historical records”.
From the collection of oral histories to a range of PPE, the pieces are part of the museum’s latest project: “Collecting Community History: The West During Covid-19.”
Contributions to the collection can be offered here.
