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2020-09-10

keep our grandma safe

While some of my relatives live in Australia, most of my family is in Israel, which is doing really bad covid-wise. We keep in touch via a What'sApp family groupchat. However, over the last few weeks, the groupchat had become a site of conflict. We in Australia, on one hand, take the virus very seriously and have favourable attitudes towards lockdown and face masks. My relatives in Israel, on the other hand, see it as a prelude to dictatorship. They also subscribe to all sorts of covid conspiracy theories that undermine their faith in public action. Although usually their opinions are tolerated, covid has really fleshed out our ideological differences to an irreconcilable point. The other week, my cousin in Israel showed up to my grandmother’s house with her friends. This caused a backlash here in Australia among relatives who were concerned for my grandmother’s safety. After quite a public and vicious argument on the What’sApp groupchat my grandmother eventually stepped in to defuse the tensions. As absurd as it sounds, I hope my relatives stay away from my grandmother. Their alternative views, which were once endearing and funny, can now claim her life. Ultimately, I would be powerless to stop them from here.

2020-09-10

keep our grandma safe

While some of my relatives live in Australia, most of my family is in Israel, which is doing really bad covid-wise. We keep in touch via a What'sApp family groupchat. However, over the last few weeks, the groupchat had become a site of conflict. We in Australia, on one hand, take the virus very seriously and have favourable attitudes towards lockdown and face masks. My relatives in Israel, on the other hand, see it as a prelude to dictatorship. They also subscribe to all sorts of covid conspiracy theories that undermine their faith in public action. Although usually their opinions are tolerated, covid has really flashed out our ideological differences to an irreconcilable point. The other week, my cousin in Israel showed up to my grandmother’s house with her friends. This caused a backlash here in Australia among relatives who were concerned for my grandmother’s safety. After quite a public and vicious argument on the What’sApp groupchat my grandmother eventually stepped in to defuse the tensions. As absurd as it sounds, I hope my relatives stay away from my grandmother. Their alternative views, which were once endearing and funny, can now claim her life. Ultimately, I would be powerless to stop them from here.

2020-09

Jewish Melbourne: Temple Beth Israel's 'Yachad'

Temple Beth Israel created a website - Yachad - in order to bring community together during Covid times. The website hosts livestreams and recordings of services, as well as reflections, opportunities to hear the shofar, music, share recipes, order a machzor, and offer a blessing. There's messages from the rabbis, information about the High Holy Days services, and activities for children. They explain: "In many ways Covid-19 has taught us that community matters now more than ever! We are proud to launch this digital platform which will host our High Holy Day offerings for you and your family. Yachad, (“together”) in Hebrew, draws its name and purpose from “Shir La’Ahava”, a song by Israeli band Gaya. The lyrics of Shir La’Ahava which begin with the words yachad – lev el lev, (“together – heart to heart”), capture the optimism, love and unity which we hope will define our High Holy Day celebration this year."

2020-08-22

Jewish Melbourne: "Happy Birthday Opa"

This article appeared in The Weekend Australian Magazine, marking the 99th birthday of Max Arnott, a Dunera Boy, which happened in May, under Melbourne's lockdown. Max's granddaughter, Zoe Arnott, took a photo of three of her children outside Max's gate, celebrating his birthday.

2020-04-21

Jewish Melbourne: "Second Generation Holocaust Survivor Triggers During The COVID 19 Crisis"

This is a video recording of a conversation between Liora Miller and Simone Szalmuk-Singer of Jewish Women of Words. It was hosted as well by the ZIonist Federation of Australia.

2020-03-01

The Jam Project - Powered by NCJWA Vic

The Jam Project is a teenage - buddy program matching participants aged 14-16 years with a female 'buddy' aged 21-28, with the goal of promoting the empowerment of girls, while helping to build their sense of self-worth, self-belief and autonomy. This is achieved through secure and reliable fortnightly catch ups, between the buddy and participant for up to a period of a year. Together with group sessions, the participants and buddies come together and are involved in activities that enhance their mindset and promote their curiosity, resilience and autonomy. Due to COVID-19, NCJWA Vic took steps to adapt the Jam Project in this difficult time. Our priority is to maintain our objectives and values through these adaptations.

2020-04-01

Caring Mums - Powered by NCJWA Vic

The Caring Mums program is a service providing emotional support to mothers of babies and pregnant women. The program matches trained volunteers, all of whom are mothers themselves, to new mums with the goal of developing a secure trusting relationship. Through regular weekly meetings for up to a period of 12 months, mums’ feelings of isolation, anxiety and depression decrease, while their parenting confidence and sense of belonging grow significantly. Caring Mums adapted its program so that its aims and values can still be upheld during the current pandemic. We continue to see mums in our current catchment whilst growing our service into new areas, using technology, as we understand the impact this reality has on vulnerable and isolated populations, including mums already facing many new challenges.

2020-02-28

Not overseas but home

I wrote this story for Womankind magazine's online 'Life in Lockdown' site. It is my reflection on my decision to cancel my long-planned overseas family adventure in the very early days of the pandemic. I wish I'd kept a better diary of this time so I'm glad I wrote this piece.

2020-04-07

Jewish Melbourne Passover 2020

Missing the Seder with friends...the story, songs, prayers, food and children squirming waiting for dinner.

2020-06-09

Jewish Melbourne DISPOSABLE

Personal Reflection in regard to growing opinion that "it is the duty of the old to step aside and let younger people receive treatment",

2018

Jewish Melbourne - Applesauce In The Meatloaf

An unveiling of a dear friend , an unexpected lesson learned, and the value of every day.

2020-04-12T16:15:10

Jewish Melbourne - Passover 2020

Passover is one of my favorite holidays. I love the Seder, songs, prayers, food and sharing it with loved ones. For the last several years, I have been a guest at my dear friend's house. She has three grandson's, twins age 13 and a 10 year old. Her daughter is a wonderful baker and makes the most wonderful desserts! Her son is a chef and dinner is spectacular! He also conducts the Seder with the perfect combination of fun and the seriousness of the occasion. I miss this terribly!

2020-06-26

Ballarat 9 26 June 2020 - Don't Necessarily Travel to the Regions!

I found the original article by Ben Groundwater extremely irritating and opposed to the balance of medical and state opinion. Just because the middle class are denied the opportunity currently to travel overseas does not mean they should be pounding off to regional centres which have largely been exempt from COVID-19.

2020-05-09

Humans of Covid-19 AU: Bobo Matjila

“My social life has become non-existent, but my relationships are still quite strong. Isolation has forced me to be a better friend because it has required me to check up on people in ways that I never did before. For me this feels a bit like a break from the constant rat-race of life (but not a vacation). Everything feels slower, which I kind of like. I’m no longer forced to go to events or go out. I'm an introvert, so I love spending time at home. Life feels simple, and slow, and more intentional now. I’ve been able to catch up on lots of reading. I am also enjoying being able to walk down the street and not be harassed. I expected something like this to happen sooner or later. I always had the sense that the pace at which this city runs is not sustainable, so pretty soon it will collapse. I've been mentally and emotionally prepared for this to happen. Everyday people are dying, suffering, and in the depths of misery, which I feel is the norm of the human condition. Peace is the exception. I think that’s why I’m mentally not so affected by the pandemic, because I don't have hopeful expectations for humanity. If we all agreed on the basics that homelessness and suffering is unnecessary, then we could get rid of all of this in a couple of months and save the future of humanity. There’s a lot we can do to prevent this, I just don't think we will do it.” Instagram post on Bobo Matjila, podcast host & writer, and her experience during the pandemic, which was created by a psychology student living in Melbourne who was interested to hear about how COVID-19 was impacting on different peoples’ lives.

2020-05-06

Humans of Covid-19 AU: Montana

“People are often saying that it sounds so nice and relaxing working from home, but I've been finding the opposite. It’s really exhausting, more so than a day at the office. I think it's because you’re fighting so many distractions, both consciously and unconsciously, all day. For me, art is often mental health focused. The reason that I do the art is for my personal mental health, it's a really good outlet for me to feel calm and understand my feelings and thoughts. But I also make the art to share it with others and build a community of people that can support each other and feel reassured by relating to others’ feelings. I love that people are turning to art as an outlet during this time. I'm a big believer that creativity can help people to reach a state of mindfulness and act as a preventative measure to mental health issues. I’ve noticed that people are being so generous and compassionate. As I go for walks, I notice that people have got baskets out on the nature-strip, offering their things, and sending letters to each other. It’s really wholesome. COVID19 has made me realize that there are so many things we do everyday that contribute to the decay of earth, but are completely unnecessary.” Instagram post on Montana, illustrator, and her experience during the pandemic, which was created by a psychology student living in Melbourne who was interested to hear about how COVID-19 was impacting on different peoples’ lives.

2020-04-30

Humans of Covid-19 AU: Hayley Katzen

“I live on a cattle farm in the bush, so isolation is nothing new for me. I swore that I would never live here, but then I fell in love with a beautiful woman. The big thing for me at the moment is that I'm about to publish my memoir, Untethered. It's a very exciting time. COVID-19 has had very little impact on us. We live quite isolated lives; I could go for weeks without seeing anyone. So it’s kind of funny to see city friends who are usually very busy suddenly wanting to do Zooms and Whatsapps. It’s nice, but I’ve lived like this for so long. The biggest difference for me is actually positive. I feel a sense of being accompanied at this time, as everyone is now living as I have been living. Often, over the years, I have felt quite lonely and struggled with the isolation, as do so many people. Now we are all in this. Adjusting to isolation is a deeply personal process. We all need to find what delights us and add it to our days. As I have compromised immunity, I have to wear a mask when going out. It feels very strange going to the supermarket and not being able to connect with anyone. I’ve been dealing with ovarian cancer treatment, so there is an uncertainty to my future. At this time, when the whole world is dealing with anxiety and uncertainty, there’s a universality to this shared experience. I find this intriguing at one level, and also feel incredibly lucky to be where I am. What most interests me is what we will put back into the world after this. My life won't change significantly. But in terms of our fragile planet, what will people do to take care of it?” Instagram post on Hayley Katzen, author, and their experience during the pandemic, which was created by a psychology student living in Melbourne who was interested to hear about how COVID-19 was impacting on different peoples’ lives.

2020-04-22

Humans of Covid-19 AU: Sumeyya

“Last year I went overseas to work in Turkey. After my return, I was diagnosed with cancer so I couldn't go back to work. Since last year, my life has basically been under lockdown, so nothing very new to me. I just do home things most of the time, such as research, reading, art and walks. I’m really looking forward to being free again. As painful as this pandemic is for many people, we needed this. Everyone is becoming very selfish. Everything has become about the dollar and money, rather than looking around and appreciating life around them. But at the end, they will be miserable because they didn’t really enjoy life. Overseas is like another world, especially in poor countries. But no one stops to think about how these people are surviving. Ramaddan is in a few days' time. There is a mixture of excitement and nervousness. It will be hard because we can’t visit friends and family, or have meals together with lots of people. But a lot of people are working on keeping it positive. This year we can pray just with our family, and it is still rewarding. As hard as this time is, we are going to be part of history!” Instagram post on Sumeyya, student, blogger & model, and her experience during the pandemic, which was created by a psychology student living in Melbourne who was interested to hear about how COVID-19 was impacting on different peoples’ lives.

2020-04-21

Humans of Covid-19 AU: Mandy Dante

“Many of the programs that we run are face-to-face and in schools. So it has been challenging to see many of our programs booked for Term 2 being postponed and there are many unknowns. COVID-19 has also impacted the business financially, our facilitators do not have opportunity to work, and for myself financially it has been tough. I’ve definitely gone through waves. At the beginning, I had this amped up energy of excitement to get creative, thinking of ways to deliver online. Then I hit a down stage. Now I'm able to be more patient with myself and am taking it one step at a time. For teenage girls, school is often seen as an escape from home life and family. It's a different world for them, and so not having that outlet and freedom is difficult. Also in your teenage years, your friendship group is like your bloodline, so lack of physical connection is definitely having an impact. It is ok to ride different emotions at this strange time. I realize that even I am on social media so much more! This, combined with having more alone time, can amplify people’s thoughts about body image and friendships. There is pressure to be constantly posting and being relatable. A huge thing people are learning is to be grateful for the small things. This period is enabling a space to develop intentional communication, rather than quick, rushed conversation. It is fostering deeper connections.” Instagram post on Mandy Dante, CEO & Founder of Flourish Girl, and her experience during the pandemic, which was created by a psychology student living in Melbourne who was interested to hear about how COVID-19 was impacting on different peoples’ lives.

2020-06-12T15:19

A Small COVID19 Letter

As a new-coming highschool student, I was really expecting to have a good fresh year and new beginnings. While we all got new beginnings, it was definitely not good ones. Instead of enjoying my first year of highschool in a normal daily setting, I was strapped to eyeing my laptop from my bed at all times, checking notifications for new work to be completed and having video conferences with my teachers. As it was all so rushed and sudden, for me it was quite an overwhelming experience. At some points I really began to stress from all the overdue and uncompleted work. It seems many people in the world think that we are all suddenly care-free with nothing to do because of this virus, but for cases like mine, that isn't true at all. The message I've put in the letter is to not take things too carelessly, because that's what I think many people in the world are doing right now. It's an important message because you never know what might happen if you don't take a little caution to things.

2020-04-20

Humans of Covid-19 AU: Gemma Gringlas

“The hardest part of this pandemic has been that I have had to put on hold many initial psychological assessments of kids, as they cannot be done online. Families wait a long time to get into see a psychologist and get an assessment, so it leaves a lot of parents worried about what might be going on for their child, which is really tricky. Some of the kids that I see have social anxiety or are on the autism spectrum, and I have found that telehealth actually removes a lot of the anxiety for them. These kids have difficulty being one on one with someone else, and therapeutic environments can be stressful. They’re a bit more relaxed when on screen because they’re slightly removed from me, which is really interesting. Everyone is being responsive to the difficulty of working at home. I'm trying to see my clients in the time when Teddy is sleeping. We’ve all had to learn to adapt. I am very concerned about the general mental health of people in society. People have lost connection, their social interaction, their daily scheduling, and also financial stress and uncertainty. As a society, it’s important to reach out. We need to take care of one another during this time.” Instagram post on Gemma Gringlas, clinical psychologist, and her experience during the pandemic, which was created by a psychology student living in Melbourne who was interested to hear about how COVID-19 was impacting on different peoples’ lives.

2020-06-23

Tragedy or Fortune

This is important because this tells my true feelings about what is happening in the world currently.

2020-06-22

Protest in a time of epidemic. Ballarat 8, 22 June 2020

The problems of how to permit political protest when an epidemic is present in your society - the BLM issue

0020-06-01T07:00:00

Diary of a Quarantinee

I was ordered into enforced quarantine on arriving in the NT on 25 March 2020. It felt somewhat like being in a police state, especially when two burly police officers came to my place of quarantine to check on me. After railing against my 14 day imprisonment, I gradually saw some advantages in isolation, and finally wanted to stay in quarantine forever! #Covid19

2020-06-19

A pandemic love story

I was only a month into dating a British guy here in Australia on a working holiday visa when the pandemic started affecting countries outside of China. The battle that China was facing at the time seemed far, far away, as if it could never reach us all the way here in Australia. For a lot of young people like myself, we continued our daily lives, a little anxious, alert but otherwise content with our circumstances. So far, we were free. At university, a friend once proclaimed, ‘it’s okay, even if we were to get it, for young people, it’s just like the common cold, which is another form of coronavirus anyway.’ Things progressed extremely fast of course. From announcement of the first identified case in Australia, it was a matter of people frantically tuning in to the news every single day and night, talking with neighbours and phoning relatives overseas as we eagerly awaited the next steps of prime minister Scott Morrison. At first, Australia was hesitant to respond, with Morrison and health officials calmly addressing the nation on news. But surely, as the number of cases in Australia grew from 1 to 30 to 150 by March 19, the borders shut, shops closed and we became housebound. Stage 1 restrictions had begun. It’s hard to believe that since then, I’ve completed an entire semester, 9 weeks of university, online. Just a few days before these restrictions began on March 19-20, my boyfriend and I, having only been dating 1 month, went through a rough patch causing me to break off the relationship. Then, once lockdown began, his workplace closed and he realised he had insufficient savings to last more than a month of rent and expenses in Melbourne. Being a UK citizen, he was also not entitled to the stream of government financial benefits that had recently initiated. He didn’t even have Medicare so if he were to suddenly fall ill, he wouldn't be able to afford basic medical care. After pouring his heart out to me about all this, I knew that the best thing for him was to fly back to the UK. In my mind, we were over and there was no reason for him to stay and suffer in Australia. However, stubbornly and against my advice, he insisted on staying if I gave him another chance because he wanted to resolve our issues and continue the relationship. He wanted to show me that he’s not the type of guy to leave when things get tough (bit dramatic, yes). He also knew that if he left, he wouldn’t be able to return to Australia, because of his type of visa. For him, there was literally no advantage in staying: no work, no savings, no family. All he had was me, and the prospect of our relationship. For whatever reason, he decided that that was worth fighting for, amid a global pandemic and financial hardship. After many long conversations back and forth, he convinced me that it was indeed possible for him to stay because he was willing to do whatever it took, even borrowing money from family, an idea that normally revolts him. Meanwhile, I realised I didn't want to give up on our relationship. I wanted him beside me, especially during this uncertainty. I knew that a guy willing to stay in a country for you, is a guy you only meet once in a lifetime. So, I gave him another chance and we fought to get through. For 2 months, this is what our lives looked like: - Him, cooped up in his apartment with his flatmates, playing videogames, applying for jobs here and there, checking for updates and praying that the government would offer any help to temporary visa holders - Me, cooped up in my suburban home, watching online lectures, bonding with my family, exercising, baking - Me, buying him food and groceries when I could - Us, Facetiming, every night, making each other laugh, planning all the things we’d do when restrictions lifted and addressing uncomfortable topics with a pandemic sense of urgency - Us, meeting up twice a week, spending the entire day together just driving around in my car, taking away food and coffee, feeding off each other’s presence in this lonely time - Us, without the hussle and bustle of ‘normal’ life, getting to know each other deeply and authentically. You can’t hide behind your work mask or your social mask during lockdown. Where we are now, 4 months later. We are going strong. Our issues are past us, and he has been nothing but amazing and supportive. He managed to find work again and received a rent grant. Financially, he has survived. Restrictions in Australia have lifted, restaurants are open for dine-in, sports matches are re-opening and groups of up to 20 can now gather in a home. Things are finally looking up. He is hoping to find farm work soon, which everyone on a working holiday visa must do in order to stay a second year. This whole experience has been surreal. This isn’t the first time the world has witnessed a pandemic but it’s certainly the first time entire countries have gone into lockdown. At the age of 22, I never thought my relationship would develop alongside a pandemic. I’m so grateful I’ve had someone to share this experience with. More importantly, I’ve learned that when an amazing thing or person comes into your life, to hold on and fight for it because at the end of the day, all we have is our health, and our love for people.

2020-05-09

Window

I am including this selection of two photos of my bedroom window, as this has been the dominant view and my sole saving grace throughout lockdown. The photo on the left was taken in my first week of lockdown on the twenty third of March, which was the first week that I began to stay at home as I am asthmatic and was very concerned about my own health making me more vulnerable. The second photo was taken on the first of June, and marks ten weeks since my own ‘lockdown’ began, I have somewhat lost track of the various stages of lightening of restrictions as I was still mostly avoiding going out up until the point when the second photo was taken. In many ways my asthma and anxiety made this experience pretty traumatising, I stopped walking my dog because I people kept patting her and I had too much anxiety about the conflict of constantly asking people not too, and I was worried about the contact risk to myself from people touching my dog. After the rate of community transmission stabilised, I felt safer going out to places, but then I found the secondary anxiety of people behaving in rude and hostile ways towards me in public due to my obvious coughing or wheezing from asthma after I had an obvious asthma attack in Officeworks. My isolation has thus been pretty intense and long lasting compared to some others and combined with anxiety has induced an intense sensation of feeling trapped in my bedroom. The access to sunlight and fresh air through this window, as well as my beautiful view has been a literal visual lifeline, I found myself taking lots of photos of the window and my view. In many ways I feel like this has made me far more attentive than I have ever had the opportunity to be to the changes between night and day, and the slow seasonal change into winter.

2020-04-17T19:30

Isolation and Illumination

I included this video because in my own time practicing social distancing and social isolation, I noticed that my days and nights became dominated by two distinctive scenes, which is a rather harsh contrast to the variety of settings available to me normally. The first being the windows to freedom I had driving in the car to and from the grocery store, or occasionally to go through the drive through. The second is my home, or more specifically the bedroom from within which I have to sleep, study, eat and entertain myself. Whilst I had access to several peripheral liminal zones between these two, such as the balcony outside my bedroom and my local walking track when walking my dog. The neon lights and empty spaces of the outside world through the car window, or through the layer of social distancing in the grocery store exemplify so much of the feeling I have experienced in isolation. I can’t quite pin down this feeling with a pithy phrase yet, but I found that the physical confinement to settings which became routine was so much more traumatising than the lack of social connection which was for me almost an over surplus rather than a lack as I am constantly surrounded by family with both my mother, brother and occasionally cousin being confined to a small cottage house. I feel like the whole world became this strange liminal space in which daily communal expectations were suspended without being overturned with new expectations, I never really got the sense of ‘the new normal’ that others have mentioned.

2020-06-02

Rewilding (Part III)

This is my literary response to being relatively safe whilst watching Covid reek havoc around the world.

2020-05-28

Paper Bag Extravaganza (creativity in quarantine)

I was working as a dancer on the Cruise Ship MS Zaandam when the Covid-19 Pandemic hit. Countries began to close their borders and passengers and crew began presenting with flu-like symptoms. The entire ship went into lockdown to prevent the spread of this illness which was later confirmed to be Covid-19. We were denied entry to Chile, Peru and the Panama Canal. At this time we had 4 deaths onboard. The MS Rotterdam came to our aid with medical staff, test kits and supplies. Eventually we were granted entry through the Panama Canal to disembark passengers and sick crew in Florida. The ship then left port and sailed to the Bahamas were all crew had to undergo a 14 day CDC ordered quarantine. Repatriation plans were made and I was transferred to the Nieuw Statendam and sailed across the Atlantic to disembark in Rotterdam on May 13th. This ended up being a total of 60 days stranded at sea. After flying home to Perth I faced another 14 days away from family in mandatory Hotel Isolation . We were delivered meals 3 times a day that came in paper bags and other biodegradable containers. I wanted to do something creative and a little bit quirky to pass the time. This packaging became my inspiration to create a range of outfits constructed from these recycled materials. I posted a video of these creations and it went viral on Facebook. I have kept these costumes as memorabilia.

2020-05-29

Andante: Short Story on this pandemic

I have written this short story around the circumstances in which we found ourselves in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Short story based on actual events in the current health crisis.

2020

COVID 19 journal

This is a journal I wrote my self for a school assignment to recount what it was like living through the COVID 19 crisis

2020-05-26

Homeless being turned away as cool weather pushes Safe Space shelter to capacity

As Tasmanians, saturated in the flood of online media content, look on at the state of the world, feelings range from extreme anxiety, compassion with those in crisis centres, to smug repose (“at least we are not in that country”). This last response seems particularly rife today, but it struggles to conceal an inherent coldness which we don’t otherwise normally like to attribute to ourselves. Not only does this attitude overlook that fact that we have our own dead, or that the cost of life is of a value that far outpaces numerical value (comparing our figures with death-tolls in other places), we ignore those without home in the very place in which all of us are meant to dwell together. Prior to the lockdown, Tasmania’s capital city Hobart underwent a housing crisis. But as we wait on Canberra to get things moving along - exactly as they were before or, even better than before - we should keep in mind that not everything is possible just because money is behind it. To return to the housing crisis: this challenges all of us to think about our responsibility towards those forgotten in our own home. Genuine responsibility begins with compassion, not money. I feel like, too often, we reverse the formula.

2020-03-30

Van Gogh Painting Stolen

A Van Gogh painting was stolen from a museum in the Netherlands due to closure because of COVID-19.

2020-03-20

Sports Cancelled Due to Covid-19 Risk

Sailing, as well as all other sports, have been cancelled or postponed due to the Covid-19 crisis. This sailing club, like many others is therefore shut for the foreseeable future. I chose this image because through all the years that I have been sailing (17 years) nothing like this has ever occurred before.

2020-05-27

Flatmates

I have spent the pandemic living with my 5 flatmates in our student accommodation. Some of us had lived at student accommodation before and were already acquainted with each other, whereas others were strangers at the beginning of the year. Over the last few months we have learned to live with each other amidst the uncertainty posed by the virus, organising cleaning rosters, discussing food, stressing over university assignments and rediscovering the beauty of The Lord of the Rings films.

2020-04-27

A Postcard From a Friend

Sent to me by a friend who lives less than half an hour from me, this is an example of how the world has reverted in some ways during the pandemic. Written letters and postcards are largely objects of the past, yet this was an effort at analog connection in the digital world, one that required thought and care to produce.

2020-04-30

Productivity during COVID - 19

This image, found on Instragam, encapsulates the immediate effects of COVID - 19 upon the way individuals live their lives. By exploring the juxtaposition between the before, during and after states of COVID - 19 the post articulates the changing dynamics of the world around this virus.

2020-04-17

2020 Disaster Prediction Meme

The meme was created and posted on a Facebook group during April, and was part of a trend of memes predicting what terrible event will happen in the next month for 2020. The meme is comprised of two images taken from the show Avatar the Last Airbender, and contains a quote which has been changed to fit the memes theme. It shows the community online dealing with the pandemic through memes, but also highlights how tired people becoming because continued disasters throughout 2020. HUM402

2020-06-24

Problems with government policy concerning schools

[Curatorial Note]: Description and thoughts on new policies for sanitation and safety within early education classrooms.

04/03/2020

Balcony beers

One of my best friends came home from Melbourne to be in lockdown with her family in Hobart. Her original flight to Hobart was cancelled, and in a twenty-four-hour whirlwind she ended up on the last sailing of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry instead. She had to quarantine for two weeks when she got to Hobart because she had travelled from interstate. This was before the policy of hotel quarantine came into force in Tasmania, so she got to stay in a family friend’s vacant Airbnb in Hobart CBD. I live really close by, and after a few days it felt too weird being so close and not seeing each other, so we decided to try a socially distanced catch up. I sat in the carpark behind her Airbnb, and she sat at the top of the stairs on her balcony. In the planning stages, we floated the term “window wine” (where you have a wine with a window in between you) but this turned out to be a “balcony beer” (where you have a beer and one friend is gazing up at the other loftier friend, like Romeo serenading Juliet). I am including this image in the Covid19 archive because it was the first time things sunk in. To me it is an image of a very uncertain time, right at the beginning of Tasmania’s lockdown, where we had no idea whether Australia would manage to flatten the curve, and had seen varying results in other countries in news coverage. We were frightened on one level, but at the same time we were so struck by the novelty of everything – it really felt like we were living in a new, different world.

04/15/2020

Chalk messages on local footpath

Messages of kindness from unknown neighbours; take each day as it comes.

04/15/2020

Chalk messages on local footpath

Messages of kindness between strangers.

twitter screen shot of tweet about wiping shopping bags with Clorox wipes

2020-04-08

How will this moment be seen in the Future?

This is a tweet reflecting on what it may be like explaining to people in the future what it was like living through Covid-19. The tweet also wonders what impacts this event will have on us. #HUM402

13/05/2020

Masterchef Australia's Perfect Storm

HUM402 In April 2020, Masterchef Australia premiered its 12th season, and received the best ratings in years. As well as featuring old 'Fan Favourite' contestants, for a stressed out nation in lockdown the nostalgia, comfort, and domesticity of Masterchef, and the lack of other places to be of an evening, definitely contributed to the shows success. I know my family is hooked for the first time in eight years, and Masterchef has become something we look forward to doing together every evening.

2020-03-18

What we do as the plague approaches: Post 1

Melbourne writer Arnold Zable began regular posts on Facebook in mid March about his thoughts and feelings on the pandemic. He has given permission for them to be reproduced here.

2020-07-05

Reverse Culture Shock and Relaxing Restrictions

HUM402 This article discusses reverse culture shock and the likelihood that many Australians will experience this as restrictions are gradually relaxed. I feel this article will resonate with many people worldwide, and also clearly highlights the turbulence of emotions felt during this period of COVID-19.

2020-04-02

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