Dr Miriam Haddu from the Department of Languages, Literature and Culture at Royal Holloway has collaborated with renowned Mexican photographer and photojournalist, Francisco Mata Rosas from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in Mexico, to create an online multimedia exhibition, titled Covida.
The Covida exhibition, running until 31 July 2021, has over two hundred images, a multimedia piece, videos, a downloadable photobook, and aural testimonies. The exhibition encapsulates the meanings behind the Covid-19 global pandemic that has struck the world this year.
This collaborative online exhibition invites reflections on what it means to be human when our sensory world is obstructed. When we live and breathe behind masks and what happens to us when we are confined to remain indoors and away from loved ones.
The exhibition brings together the vision, words and sounds from artists across the world, to share in the common experience of being human during a pandemic, as they reflect on their own vulnerabilities and strengths.
Speaking about the exhibition, Dr Miriam Haddu, from Royal Holloway, said: “At the beginning of this project, Francisco placed a call-out on social networks where contributors were asked to send in their writings, videos and photos.”
“The response was amazing: around 4,000 entries were submitted and an editing team from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) worked on the final selection of images which became both a book (the Coronalibro) and an exhibition, Covida.”
“The idea for Covida, a truly online exhibition came about as museums and galleries around the world shut their doors, and the need for sharing these images became more urgent than ever. The process of creating a fully virtual exhibition has been an exciting, new, and informative experience.”
A collaborative ongoing project between Royal Holloway and the UAM, Covida offers a platform for expression and artistic responses to the global pandemic.
Dr Haddu, continued, “We’re hoping that as time goes on, more and more artists will be able to submit their visions, words and sounds to keep Covida as interactive and up-to-date as possible.”
“I have been working with Francisco for over ten years, and this is a project that we are both very excited about.”
Miriam Haddu is also a member of The Centre for Visual Cultures, an interdisciplinary research centre at Royal Holloway for cutting-edge research into Visual Cultures. The centre, based within the School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures offers a platform for exploring and celebrating manifestations of art and culture, as well as redefining and contesting accepted notions of visuality.
Dr Haddu has published extensively in the visual field, including on Mexican film, documentary and photography and has experience of curating photographic exhibitions in the UK and the US.
You can watch the promotional video for Covida here.
Visit the multimedia online exhibition here.
