One Year On – Stories of COVID-19 in Melbourne
Stevie-Lee Ryan (Taungurung) Karinda Taylor (Wamba Wamba) and Shania Shanahan (Arabana), First Peoples Health and Wellbeing, Photographer: Catherine Forge.
One Year On – Stories of COVID-19 in Melbourne’s Suburbs, Museums Victoria, April 2021
One Year On – Stories of COVID-19 in Melbourne’s Suburbs is a digital display that brings together a snapshot of stories collected across the suburbs of Melbourne in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From challenges and hardships through to examples of neighbourly kindness, hope, and resilience, this selection of stories speaks to a wide range of themes including: volunteerism, community life, the emergence of new traditions, adaptations to education and work, isolation, creative and artistic responses to the pandemic and First Peoples healthcare and knowledge systems.
One Year On – Stories of COVID-19 in Melbourne is a partnership between Museums Victoria and the Office for Suburban Development that was established in July 2020 with an aim to collect and document how individuals and neighbourhoods have adapted to life with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In late 2020-early 2021, Melburnians were invited to submit their stories to the Office for Suburban Development (via Engage Victoria), and subsequently, a selection of these stories was curated and collected by staff at Museums Victoria. All the stories presented on this digital display have been acquired into Museums Victoria’s State Collection via the museum’s Collecting the Curve: COVID-19 Pandemic Collection.
We would like to thank the individuals and community members who shared their stories and experiences with us. Special thanks to: Myra Holmes, Julie Ewing (and all those featured in Across the Fence), Kofi and Abdi Aden, Angela Davies, Aunty Jennine Armistead, Uncle Peter Aldenhoven, Anne Benton, the Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association, Taneisha Webster, Pranaya Lohani, the Li Family, Di Pullin, Fiona Burridge, Jacinta Fox, Justine Millsom, Mark Aidone, Bri Hammond (and all those featured in her Public Housing Isolation Series), Lydia Dobbin, Stephen Duff, Marina Maggs, Liz McGrath, Nicole Kemp, Louise Hopewell, Stevie-Lee Ryan (Taungurung), Karinda Taylor (Wamba Wamba), Shania Shanahan (Arabana) and First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing.
Museums Victoria and the Office for Suburban Development acknowledge the Woi Wurrung (Wurundjeri) and Boon Wurrung peoples of the eastern Kulin Nations where these stories were collected, and First Peoples language groups and communities across Victoria who have contributed their knowledge and stories to this project.
Media enquiries
Museums Victoria has experts who can provide comment on many questions about how we are researching, living with and adapting to life with COVID-19. Media enquiries and requests for expert comment should be directed to the Media and Communications team.
See also: Reflecting on how Victorians got through, together