This Local Exhibit Gives Us An Intimate Portrayal Of Life Under The Pandemic
It has been a year since the pandemic broke out and we have struggled, and eventually adjusted, to living under the new normal. The National Museum of Singapore’s Picturing the Pandemic: A Visual Record of COVID-19 in Singapore exhibition gives us an intimate portrayal of life in Singapore during the outbreak, spotlighting lesser-known stories of the pandemic, such as buying and delivering groceries to vulnerable members of the community, becoming a public safety officer during this period to keep public spaces safe, and even life as a funeral parlour manager during this period.
“Picturing the Pandemic: A Visual Record of COVID-19 in Singapore is an exhibition that everyone can identify with. It is a tribute to everyone who is living through this pandemic with fortitude, empathy and compassion,” said Ms Chung May Khuen, Director of the National Museum of Singapore in a press statement.
The exhibition, which is currently running till 29 August this year, consists of about 272 photographs, a short film, and 16 donated artefacts on display.
One of which, consists of a photo series of essential workers captured by veteran photojournalist Bob Lee during the circuit breaker. Angels of Mercy documents staff nurses as they go about their day during the start of the coronavirus outbreak.
"Through my process of documenting this series, I realised that this was not just a job to the nurses - compared to other essential workers, who just said they were happy to be working, but a responsibility. Combined with the high risk of the job, especially during the start of the outbreak when we didnt know much about the disease, I realised this was much more than a career. Hence the title, Angels of Mercy," said Bob Lee to L'Officiel Singapore.
Through his photo series, he hopes to share that we should not take things for granted. "Sometimes we forget that there are people working, while we stay at home to lower our risk.
When I started this project, I came up with a list of essential jobs during this period, and there are a lot of them. This even includes essential workers in our regular day to day that we dont think about - funeral managers, power plant officer, etc. Which is why, when I spoke to the curator for this exhibition, I felt it was important to showcase what was going on behind the scenes of their lives," said Lee.
The exhibition also features 16 pandemic-related objects, contributed as part of an open call to members of the public and organisations earlier last year. Some of the donated items include sketchbooks by members of Urban Sketchers Singapore in their record of their circuit breaker experiences, and the first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, which was administered earlier in Dec 30 last year.
Picturing the Pandemic: A Visual Record of COVID-19 in Singapore runs from 27 February to 29 August 2021. Visitors can also look forward to a special online video series of the exhibition curators in conversation with the photographers and filmmakers, alongside selected profiles featured in the exhibition. Admission is free. To find out more, visit go.gov.sg/picturingthepandemic.
