People from the South Asian Community have been sharing their memories of the COVID-19 pandemic, for a major national exhibition, Lockdown Landscapes, a work capturing a breadth of stories and experiences of lockdown by communities across England.

We are one of the partners on this project and have been commissioned to produce an art work which captures 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 is collected, together with oral histories captured by artist Nafeesa Hamid and members of the Sampad team.

We made a call out for members of Birmingham’s South Asian community to share their experiences for this project – in particular we were interested in hearing from people who experienced the pandemic in a flat, with little or no ready access to green space and people who were doing their GCSEs between 2020 and 2022.

These memories will also be added to the National Archive, meaning the personal experiences of members of the South Asian community are captured and stored for future generations alongside the experiences of those from the many different communities in England today. 

Opening in Summer 2023 and running until 1st October 2023, Together in a World Apart installation is Sampad’s element of the Lockdown Landscapes exhibition. The exhibition is led by the National Memorial Arboretum in partnership with the National Forest Company, Westminster Abbey and ArtReach, and supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. It’s a 20-month long nationwide community engagement programme commemorating the heroic key workers who have served the nation throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and to remember those who have lost their lives during this period of national crisis.

We are delighted to be working with the National Memorial Arboretum on Lockdown Landscapes, sharing the personal and collective stories of people’s time during the pandemic. To create a complete picture of the South Asian communities response, we would love it if more people could come forward to share their memories with us

Sabra Khan, Sampad