Lockdown Landscapes was a collaboration between Sampad, the National Memorial Arboretum, the National Forest Company, Westminster Abbey and ArtReach, culminating in an exhibition at the National Memorial Arboretum during the Summer of 2023. It was a 20-month long nationwide community engagement programme commemorating the heroic key workers who served the nation throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and to remember those who lost their lives during this period of national crisis.
Sampad was commissioned to produce an art work which captured the experiences of members of the South Asian community during the first year of the pandemic. Local artist Tasawar Bashir produced a soundscape from interviews he collected, together with oral histories captured by artist Nafeesa Hamid and members of the Sampad team.
People from the South Asian Community shared their memories of the COVID-19 pandemic for the national exhibition, a work capturing a breadth of stories and experiences of lockdown by communities across England.
These memories were also added to the National Archive, meaning the personal experiences of members of the South Asian community were captured and stored for future generations alongside the experiences of those from the many different communities in England today.