#NNReflections: Call for Entries

Northampton Town Council are curating a digital archive that aims to serve as a record of life throughout the lockdown period of 2020 and how it changed, with many ordinary, everyday situations becoming extraordinary.

From the empty streets and departure lounges, toilet roll and pasta shortages, reliance on food deliveries and food banks, NHS laundry bags for PPE, facemasks and hand sanitiser, new pets, mass-vaccination, walks in nature, rainbows in windows, outdoor gatherings, video conferencing, the minute of noise for the NHS and frontline workers, the decibel cap on live performances excluding drummers, to debates surrounding whether a scotch egg can be considered a substantial meal.

We want your diary entries, photographs, short stories, poems, paintings, short videos, reflective quilts, knitting projects, rainbow art, sketches and songs. Did you have a lock-down project? Did the pandemic inspire you to get creative? Is there a particular person you want to remember or express thanks to? This is your opportunity to share your work.

Applications for #NNReflections are now open. People of all ages, backgrounds and community groups are invited to submit personal reflections and/or images that symbolise the change the pandemic has had on everyday life for them.

Submissions are welcomed in any medium, including but not limited to, paintings, sculptures, moving images, photography, drawings, performances, music and written word including poetry, micro-fiction or even a comic strip.

All works submitted will be exhibited in an online archive/eBook.

Cllr Jane Birch says, "Whilst we recognise the Covid-19 outbreak is far from over, we hope that this archive will serve as a record of the different individual experiences of the pandemic that will provide an insight into lockdown life within the community for future generations to come".

The Lockdown has given many of us time to reflect and focus, with some of us reassessing key aspects of our lives and taking up new pastimes. Many of us have lost someone and have realised the importance of family, friends and health. Coping with the pandemic has emphasised both loneliness and sadness, as well as the inequalities in our society that highlight the need for change within our community.

The Mayor of Northampton, Cllr Rufia Ashraf says, "We want this collection to represent the community as a whole and celebrate its diversity by including as many different voices from the community as possible, from all ages and ethnic backgrounds".

Please make sure to read the full terms and conditions and sign and attach the relevant disclaimers document.

#NNReflections