DATE: 12th May 2021

Help York Castle Museum decide which key objects should be taken into the permanent collection to mark the COVID-19 pandemic.

York Castle Museum is asking the public to help determine which objects and memories it should collect to represent the COVID-19 pandemic in its collections.
Through online surveys and polls, five of the most popular objects, voted for by the public, will be acquired by the museum to help document the pandemic to future generations.

The first chance to have a say is by taking part in an online survey, which can be found at https://www.yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk/covid-19-objects/.

Helen Thornton, curator of social history at York Museums Trust, said: “This pandemic has affected so many of us in many different ways. Everyone has had different experiences and we felt it was important to ask the public how they would like us to represent these times in our museum collections.

“We hope people will get involved and help us choose the new items to ensure they give real insight into the lives of people in and around York during the pandemic.”

Helen added: “This is the first time we’ve used social media as a tool for acquiring objects into the collection, but since being closed we’ve grown our online audience significantly and are excited to see how it will work on these platforms.

“It’s been an historical period, and we hope this collecting project will help future generations understand and learn about these challenging times.”

To decide which key objects should be taken into the permanent collection, York Castle Museum are asking members of the public to fill out the short online survey. Within the survey people will be asked which objects they feel represent the universal experience of COVID-19, and these will be taken to a public poll on social media with the top five objects being acquired into York Castle Museum’s permanent collection. As well as physical objects, the museum is also keen to hear people’s thoughts and reflections and how people managed to stay creative during the difficult year.

York Museums Trust will also be working with local community groups to collect further objects associated with the pandemic.

To take part in the online survey please visit https://www.yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk/covid-19-objects/ or follow the link here: Living through History, Capturing COVID Memories (office.com)