The Isolation Museum

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. This has led many countries to encourage their citizens to stay at home, isolate, or go into quarantine to prevent widespread community transmission.

Being forced to stay home not only changes our relationship to each other, but also changes our relationships to our spaces. I began The Isolation Museum to document my thoughts on my space, starting with a handmade clock built by my sister.

A photo of a clock made from an old basketball hoop. The hoop portion is on the wall, framing the clock, while the backboard lies perpendicular to the wall as a shelf beneath the clock.

A screenshot from the Isolation Museum homepage. It features a large photo of an unoccupied green chair sitting alone on a calm, white background. The title of the website is in bold green at the bottom of the page with an arrow indicating the user to scroll down.

Enjoying the process, I opened The Isolation Museum to the public and encouraged others to also share their isolation stories with each other. My hope was that by sharing these stories, we could transform our isolation into a source of contact and connection.

The Isolation Museum has been featured on on CBC’s Spark with Nora Young, Ottawa Morning with Robyn Bresnahan, Narcity, Ottawa CTV News, Ottawa CityNews, Montecristo Magazine, and in Raven Magazine.