Items

• 
  2020-05-27

  Cat Playing in a Box

  My girlfriend was housesitting for a man who was unfortunately on a cruiseship when coronavirus hit, and he had to be quarantined on Rottnest island. This box was ironically holding toilet paper, but we repurposed it to be a cat café and wrote that he was only serving us takeaway due to COVID-19 restrictions.
• 
  2020-05-27

  Charades Virtual Edition

  Over the course of the pandemic student resident committees and the student living staff at the UTAS Sandy Bay Student Accommodation have come up with many online activities to keep residents connected with each other. This example is an invitation from the John Fisher College resident committee.
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-05-26

  Australian school library COVID-19 information desk

  Mentone Girls' Grammar School Kerferd Library information desk during the COVID-19 return to campus (Phase 1) 26 May 2020. For student and staff safety the library stopped lending headphones and chess sets. In phase 1 junior school students in Prep to year 2, as well as senior school students in years 10, 11 and 12, returned to campus. Students in years 3 to 9 remained off campus and continued with online learning until phase 2 which commenced on 9 June 2020.
• 
  2020-03-30

  A Victorian-Inspired Reticule

  This was the first thing I made during the pandemic. It provided an outlet for my excess energy at the beginning of the initial isolation period, but also allowed some community engagement as it was part of the Instagram movement in the sewing community, #sewcialdistancing. It provided an avenue for me to connect with other creators, and refocus myself at the beginning of isolation.
• 
  2020-05-26

  Pepperz Safety Poster

  A safety poster on the window of Pepperz, the restaurant of the UTAS College Road student accommodation. Pepperz became a vital source of cheap cooked meals for many residents who relied on communal kitchens prior to the lock down. Access to those kitchens was restricted due to social distancing measures.
• 
  05/26/2020

  University Apartments on College Road

  One section of the UTAS student accommodation on College Road, Sandy Bay. Here reside several hundred university students from across Tasmania, Australia and the world. At the beginning of the year residents would gather at social events, making new friends and reconnecting with old ones. But when the pandemic reached Tasmania the mood grew tense and students withdrew into their accommodation.
• 
  2020-05-26

  Disclosure quarantine music release

  My favourite UK electronic band, Disclosure, released a new single from their forthcoming album "Energy" during lockdown. The track, also called "Energy" is a work of house/electronic music art that reflects the times we are currently facing. It's uplifting, direct, exotic, punchy and a lot of fun to listen to.
• 
  2020-05-26

  Have you got your dot? - COVID-safe UTas

  After Tasmanian restrictions were eased for the first time on Monday 18 May, these signs started to appear around the University of Tasmania's Sandy Bay campus. They show the university's response to allowing a limited number of people on campus daily and the safety procedure of having a temperature check and wearing a sticker to confirm that each person on campus is well.
• 
  05/18/2020

  Tasmanian Hospital Remain Closed to Visitors

  While some restrictions have begun to gradually ease in Tasmania, hospitals remain closed to visitors in order to keep staff and patients safe from the spread of COVID-19.
• 
  05/12/2020

  State ABC's fight it out on Facebook

  HUM402 Last week ABC Darwin asked on Facebook: "How do you feel about a travel bubble for the NT, Western Australia and South Australia?" Unexpectedly, the ABC pages for the various Australian states responded and the comments erupted into a hilarious "fight" between them all.
• 
  26/05/20

  A Victorian-Inspired Reticule

  This item was the first thing I created once entering isolation. A project that I have been putting off for several months, it created an outlet for me to channel the initial nervous energy of the isolation situation. In this I contributed to a larger trend on Instagram in the sewing community, #sewcialdistancing, in which cosplayers, embroiderers, historical costumers, and other sewers began channeling their own excess energy into projects.
• 
  04/08/2020

  Australian 'Smart Traveller' World Travel Advisory Map

  SmartTraveller is the Australian Government's travel advisory website. This may be a historical first: every continent on the SmartTraveller map is red. The government's official advice is 'Do Not Travel' for everywhere in the world. It's a striking visual that sums up the universality of the pandemic experience.
• 
  05/26/2020

  Eat well Tasmania Survey results

  Pdf summary of recent Eat Well Tasmania food habits survey
• 
  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
• 
  2020-03-19

  UTAS students given three days to decide on online learning before census

  UTAS students given three days to decide on online learning before census
• 
  2020-05-22

  "My Plans vs. 2020" Meme

  A meme I created and posted on a Facebook group, on the topic of the year 2020. Comprised of two images taken from the opening sequence of "Shaun the Sheep", demonstrating how my plans for the year have been ruined by 2020. It summarises my feelings that all the events of the year has ruined all the plans I had, and that it has not been a great year.
• 
  2020-05-25

  Delayed Shipping Email

  An email which states that due to international shipping issue related to COVID-19 they anticipate the order will be shipped late April/early May. At the time of contributing to the archive (late May) the item had still not arrived. It's frustrating that the delay has been this long. HUM402
• 
  2020-05-13

  Becoming Austen heroines in Quarantine

  An article on whimn.com reflecting on how the novels and adaptations of Jane Austen are not only great isolation comfort reads, but mimic the rhythm of life in isolation.
• 
  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.
• 
  04/18/2020

  Kath Day-Knight's guide to isolation

  I found this really funny. It’s a very Australian Covid19 meme, using screengrabs from Kath & Kim, an iconic Australian TV show. Part mockumentary, part sitcom, the show’s eponymous characters are an outrageous mother-daughter duo who live in the fictional outer suburb of Fountain Gate. On reflection, the boredom, banality and mini-dramas of suburban life are actually a strangely perfect parallel to our lives in lockdown. Many of us feel like we are going slightly loopy. We may spend unusual amounts of time engaged in mindless activities around the house or garden. We used to squeeze thirty minutes of exercise or a trip to the supermarket into our busy schedules. Now we shape our weeks around these events. Once allowed to drink and smoke in the world’s bars and beer gardens, we are now, like Kath, forced to uncork the chardonnay night after night (or, let's face it, midday) in our own kitchens. Upon discovering this meme, I had been spending a lot of time drifting around the garden gazing at trees from different angles, watching birds and trying to speak to my chickens (Kath 4). My friend’s brother was sitting on an exercise ball in a work Zoom meeting, and a colleague asked him, “Are you sitting on an exercise ball?” He didn’t realise he had been bouncing up and down (Kath 1). Another friend has been on a reading craze in lockdown, devouring about one book per day-and-a-half (Kath 3). Which Kath are you today? #HUM402
• 
  05/01/2020

  Planting seedlings

  I took this photo after planting about a hundred seedlings in a newly fenced and prepared veggie patch at my Dad’s old place south of Hobart. Our veggie patch has three tiered beds so far. The other half is shadowed by the fence in winter, so we won’t plant anything on that side until the sun gets higher in spring. We turned through our composted food scraps and manure from roadside stalls to prepare the soil and added straw mulch after planting the seedlings. Before lockdown, I only came down here for a couple of nights each week and it wouldn’t have been practical to put in a veggie patch, with all the tending it requires. But after a couple of weeks settling into the place in lockdown my boyfriend and I got a permacultural itch. We got the seedlings from a local place called Dave’s Organic Seedlings. Dave had been under the pump since lockdown started, and so our assortment of seedlings was whatever he had left (may have an excessive amount of cabbages). I think lots of people had the same idea as us. In fact, it felt more like an urge than idea. Something primal in us needed to work with the soil, and to feel more self-sufficient. At the same time, not knowing how long lockdown would last, planting the seedlings made me feel even more locked down, like we’d bound ourselves to this patch (getting three chooks probably didn’t help either). But for now, it’s comforting to watch them grow.
• 
  04/13/2020

  Racism and Covid-19

  This image was a part of a Facebook post. It is evidently racist and indicates an underlying suspicion of the ‘Chinese’ community which has arisen out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Discussion of the cause of the Covid-19 outbreak, particularly regarding its supposed origins in a wet market, has contributed to a growth in anti-Chinese sentiment and ethnocentric thought in Tasmania. The image depicts a toy bat on a plate, with the caption describing it as a ‘Chinese meal’. This refers to the belief that bats are commonly eaten in China and that such practices caused the Covid-19 outbreak. The last line of the post is also evidently racist, with the name ‘Sum Ting Wong’ often being derogatively used by racist individuals to refer to Chinese and other ‘Asian’ people in Australia. It must be noted, however, that not all Tasmanians believe such horrid tropes. I immediately was horrified when I saw this post, and others I have showed it to have reacted in disgust. Nevertheless, it sadly still represents a faction of the community who have reacted to Covid-19 with suspicion and racism. From my personal experience, I feel as though this racism has reduced to some degree in the community, as the virus has spread throughout the world and beyond China.
• 
  2020-05-17

  #KeepOurMobSafe Campaign

  The Australian Government has launched a campaign to #keepourmobsafe. This image is of a screenshot of an ad for the campaign, which the government is using to educate Indigenous Australians of the risk of Covid-19. The ads appear to be targeting Indigenous Australians living in remote communities, giving them tips on how to stop the spread of Covid-19. The campaign utilises indigenous artwork and slang to appear 'relatable'.
• 
  2020/05/22

  Kangaroo-themed social distancing guidance at a supermarket in Bondi, New South Wales, Australia

  Kangaroo-themed social distancing guidance at a supermarket in Bondi, New South Wales, Australia
• 
  05/19/2020

  Franklin restaurant announces it won't be reopening

  Franklin is the first high-profile Hobart restaurant to announce that it is permanently closing in the midst of the Covid19 pandemic. ABC News online describes Franklin as "one of the restaurants that helped build Tasmania's reputation as a foodie hotspot". While many locals dined in once or twice (usually on a special occasion), the venue relied almost completely on interstate and international visitors - a meal at Franklin, with a constantly changing menu of ever-surprising, (sometimes slightly ludicrous) locally sourced ingredients and a fabulous natural wine list was a must on the high-end MONA visitor circuit. I had the best glass of pinot noir I've ever tasted at Franklin. The general consensus is that the demise of one of Tasmania's most ambitious and well-known restaurants - perhaps the first major casualty of Hobart's food scene - is a portent of things to come. Covid19 will likely spell slow inexorable disaster for much of the hospitality industry here. With Tasmania's borders closed for now, it is an unfortunate reality that our most visionary and daring restaurateurs will likely be the hardest hit.
• 
  03/20/2020

  My Iso door sign

  Having been sent a text message from the Department of Health I was ordered to self isolate as I was considered a close contact of someone I was seated near on a plane. It was a scary time. We hadn’t had any lockdown measures. It was a few days after we had been told to not shake hands etc. I had sinusitis at the time. The Dept if Health Tasmania called me every day to monitor I hadn’t left the house and also ask me about my health. As I had symptoms of sinusitis that correspond with COVID-19, I had two swab tests on these 14 days of isolation. Both returned negative.
• 
  05/07/20

  The first day outside of home

  This photograph was taken of me the first time I left my home since I began self-isolation six weeks prior. It was taken in Richmond, a place only a few minutes from my home, but moving in that space, and seeing larger numbers of people was difficult after being isolated for so long.
• 
  05/20/2020

  A postcard from a friend

  The image depicts a postcard sent to me by a friend who lives only a half an hour away. It represents engagement with outdated technology in order to attempt some semblance of connection in a time and place where that connection is almost impossible.
• 
  04/28/2020

  Google Searches for Banana Bread - on the news

  This is a screenshot of the Alan Kohler's finance report on the 7 o'clock news in Tasmania, Australia. Kohler ended a characteristically dire covid19 financial report with this graph showing a spike in Google searches for banana bread in Australia. Firstly, this gives an insight into everyday life for Australians cooped up at home and trying to stay entertained and feel productive. Since making banana bread is usually a way to use up overripe spotty brown bananas, it also speaks to the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in households at the moment with everyone minimising their grocery trips. Secondly, it's a nice visual of the phenomenon of "lockdown trends" - like zoom parties, sourdough and seedlings, the more that people posted their freshly baked banana bread on social media, the more others felt inspired to do the same. I also think this item reflects the urge of media producers to find light in the darkness and remind viewers of the novelties of lockdown life. Finally, I think this screenshot shows the surrealism of life in Covid19, a time when Google searches for banana bread are discussed alongside plummeting stocks in a finance report on the evening news and with our newly developed Covid19 intuition this strangeness has become a normality. #HUM403
• 
  05/08/2020

  Digital Earth Australia (http://www.ga.gov.au/dea) and Digital Earth Africa (https://www.digitalearthafrica.org/) program staff undertaking team planning using a digital whiteboard for collaboration.

  This planning exercise involved 60+ staff working remotely across four continents and three Australian states/territories, comprising eight specialist teams (plus partners from Data61 and FrontierSI) planning over 50 projects with interrelated dependencies. The resource shows how we adopted the Miro digital whiteboard to plan our program increment when we couldn't meet face-to-face. We adapted the tool to mirror our workplace culture that values close collaboration and inclusiveness.
• 
  04/19/2020

  Loeb Classical Library - Harvard University Press International

  In light of the Pandemic the Harvard University Press decided to allow Schools and Institutions access to the Loeb Classical Library for free, Yay! This is very useful for people whose institutions apply; people studying classics who cannot access libraries are able to instead use E-Books. Yet there are some interesting elements regarding this. Firstly it is restricted to Schools and Institutions who contact the Harvard university, which means that people doing independent research during this time cannot do it, while I can understand the reasoning behind it, I also feel as though there is a certain elitism; students and members of institutions are able to access these resources while people who may want to while they are in quarantine and isolation are unable; now is the time when have the least money to spend and the most time to fill, yet unless they are part of an institution given by permission they cannot read these classical texts. The second more interesting part of this is disconnect between the quote by Horace that they led the tweet with "May I have a goodly supply of books and food to last the year" and the limitations that they set on the free-period. The Harvard University Press decided to have it last 2 months; while I do not think that should be criticized for opening their library for free, I also find amusement in the 10 month gap between Horace and the policy - they could have found a better quote.
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-03-29

  Pandemic Monopoly

  HUM402 The image depicts the creation of Pandemic Monopoly by a Hobart resident. The homemade board game uses toilet paper as currency, referring to the toilet paper shortage seen across Tasmanian supermarkets. The board game presents players with the opportunity to 'own' key Hobart locations. However, instead of mortgage, houses and hotels, the game allows players to buy hospitals and clinics to place on the properties. Centrelink, the Australian governments social security service, features heavily on the board game, indicating the rise in unemployment due to the pandemic. Whilst being used for comical purposes, the game also critiques the Tasmanian governments early handling of Covid-19 crisis via a chance card, which states "You have a fever, dry cough and Pneumonia to boot but despite having all of the symptoms, you haven't knowingly come into contact with a known carried so they won't test you for Covid-19. The Royal Hobart Hospital sends you home. Get out of iso [isolation] free." This refers to the Tasmanian government in early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic refusing to test individuals who had not been in contact with a known case, or had not left the country.
• 
  2020-03-27

  Procreate Care Pack

  Procreate is the bestselling iPad app for artists. When lockdown began in Australia, they launched a month-long campaign to encourage people to draw every day, and share their artwork with the community. The idea behind the Procreate Care Pack was to respond to the situation in a positive way, and keep people connected with one another through an isolating time. It resonated strongly with Procreate artists all over the world.
• 
  2020-03-25

  Australian Government formal COVID-19 mass text alert

  The Australian Government sent out a very curt mass text on the 25th of March to warn Australian citizens to follow COVID-19 guidelines. I chose this item because the timing and brevity was viewed by many as 'too little, too late'. It's a reflection of the fact that it took our government a week or two to absorb and act on the seriousness of the situation - not long before this message came out, the Prime Minister had still been encouraging people to attend football matches in high-capacity stadiums. Though the government eventually recognised the risk, and acted more decisively than some other countries, a large chunk of credit must go to Australians with the foresight to begin acting in advance of government instruction. By the time I received this message, my workplace had already been shut down to a work-from-home situation for a full two weeks, and the University of Tasmania's campuses had been shut down for five days. (HUM404)
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-05-13

  little things- a poem

  little things- a poem
• 
  2020-03-26

  Take what you need

  This shelf was placed at the local community house where people could take what they needed or indeed leave what they did not need. As there was no toilet paper on the shelves of the supermarket just a few 100 metres away, I thought the toilet rolls would be snapped up pretty quickly, but to my surprise they stayed for some days.
• 
  2020-03-22

  Sewing fabric masks

  This is a photo of my wife making a set of fabric masks for the family as no masks have been available to purchase. There were many patterns available to download online or instructional youtube videos. This design allows for one to insert a disposable tissue or paper wipe for additional protection. My wife wore her mask once or twice to the supermarket, other than that we have not had cause to use them.
• 
  2020-03-25

  How quickly things change

  This is two announcements concerning the status of the Utas Libraries; the one on the left is an announcement by a teacher which says that said the Morris Miller library was still open for picking up books, actually going into the library had been suspended by that point. Later that same day the University published an official statement that announced the total closure of the library. This was in keeping with government restrictions and guidelines, many libraries had been closed. This article also helps display the difficulty that some students have been experiencing in acquiring sources for their study have been made more difficult, especially since browsing is impossible, as a student can't go into the library and search the section of the library for relevant resources. This source also shows a way that educational institutions attempt to help students by scanning resources so that students can access high-use materials.
• 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.
• 
  2020-05-12

  Covid-19 Safe App

  HUM402 The Australian Government has created an app that allows people to see if they have come into contact with a Covid-19 positive case. This is an advertisement on Facebook raising awareness of the app and encouraging people to download it.
• 
  2020-05-06

  Falls Festival social media post

  HUM402 This is a screenshot of Australian music festival, Falls Festival, announcing to their followers that they are endeavoring to put on the festival at the end of the year, as per usual