The Slightly Unusual Semester #3 - Testimonials Wanted: How is the coronavirus crisis altering everyday life?

»Never, in the history of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, have we experienced an event with such a massive impact. We, at the Modernist Archive, want to depict and document this unprecedented situation from as many perspectives as possible«, says Archive employee Martin Bülling of his idea. »We are looking capture the current situation in various ways; personal photographs, reports on experiences, and objects that have come to characterize the coronacrisis«.

All university members – students, staff, and lecturers – are welcome to send documents to the Archive. »This can include things like photos of a home office, e-learning, or an empty campus«, continues Bülling, »We are closely following the exciting stories that are emerging around the topic of ›corona‹ at our university«.

This includes, for instance, a video that is shown in front of the Building Physics’ Schlierenspiegel and often referred to in the media. The video shows the air we breathe and how the Covid19 illness can spread. The »BauhausUniVisor« developed by the Bauhaus Form + Function Lab will also be in included in the Modernist Archive as part of the university's historical section. 

The aim of this collection is to document the exceptional circumstances for future generations and to record what a crisis means for people today. As an international meeting place, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar will play a particularly important role in this project. What experience will we gain from this crisis? What effect does students’ willingness to experiment have under such circumstances? How has the perception of distance, absence and anxieties changed? Every crisis tells a story, a narrative that hints towards the future. As the university’s ›memory‹, the Modernist Archive wants to collect these documents and stories, incorporating them into the collection and preserving them for future generations.

To submit to this project, please fill out this web form.

Martin Bülling is looking forward to a high level of participation and is addressing all university members when he says: »Be a witness to this exceptional situation and contribute to sharing an impression of this period at our university and in Weimar with future generations. Send us anything that distinguishes the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in terms of the crisis and documenting university life.  We are planning to add submissions to the permanent collection and to make them accessible to the public in a gallery on our website«.

Any questions may be directed to Martin Bülling, employee at the Modernist Archive, via e-mail: martin.buelling[at]uni-weimar.de