The Covid Chronicle – a stitch in a troubled time… by Natalie McCulloch
It’s safe to say that the COVID-19 pandemic brought many changes and challenges to our nation which forced people into a state of lockdown, adaptions and redistribution of time. For some people this meant acquiring new working patterns, new hobbies and even completely new ways of living day to day. The nation saw a surge of people engaging in creative activities such as sewing scrubs, making masks and upcycling household goods. The reasons for this were varied, from finding meaningful occupation of time, offering practical support to others (i.e. NHS PPE), fulfilling a desire to learn new skills and assisting general wellbeing. From a wellbeing perspective the benefits of engaging your creative side are well documented, including calming the mind, reducing stress and as a general coping mechanism when things in daily life get too much. In fact, research suggests that engaging in creative activities like sewing, can help to raise dopamine levels - the ‘feel good hormone’. Even better is doing such activities as a collective group, in person or online, as this helps combat the loneliness and isolation that many feel in modern day society, especially since COVID-19 began. Alongside the benefits of creativity and time with others, the benefits of journaling are well documented, suggesting
that simply writing things down can help to ‘clear the mental clutter’ and establish a clearer mindset as well as providing a record of important happenings and events. Considering these things it’s no wonder that projects such as ‘The Covid Chronicle’ are a huge success and something to be celebrated and commended. The ‘Covid Chronicle’ is a unique project of a London based artist Wendy Bliss which is being aptly referred to as a modern-day Bayeux tapestry and aims to create a lasting record of the pandemic through the medium of tapestry. In 2020 artists everywhere were invited to make and donate a fabric panel which illustrated their understanding/ experience of the pandemic on the understanding that it would be stitched together with others work for exhibition. The response to this invite was massive with an incredible 15 countries around the world joining in resulting in a moving masterpiece measuring 36x1 metres! Wendy Bliss, the creator of this artwork recalls “…once the panels arrived, everyday became like Christmas as there was a parcel of delights to open,” which far exceeded the 100 panels she aimed to acquire. Every panel is uniquely interesting and features a small blurb which details the distinct experiences everyone had of a time in our lives which shook the nations norm. “Literally stitching my own story to that of others seemed like a perfect antidote to the disconnect I felt.” Naomi Adams, a participating artist deduced.
34 CARDIFF TIMES
