A Virus a Day

Just at the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak, it was obvious, that my husband and I had to shield immediately due to his Leukemia.
At that point we didn't know how long we would have to be in isolation, but because I watched every single film about Pandemics available :-) ( my favourite is still 'Outbreak', with  Dustin Hoffman), I knew it would not be a matter of a few weeks.
As a creative mind, I always need to have some kind of creative project going on and that's why I started the 'Virus Project'
A virus a day - for every day in isolation, that was the plan!
After 3 days I had the idea to use the project to raise money for a good cause and set up a fundraising page.  The cause closest to my heart was our local hospital in Dorchester, the place where we would  be treated, if we would catch the virus.  
For every £20 donation, I would give a framed virus to the donor.
You can imagine how surprised, and also hurt and angry I was, when I was asked by the charity department  of the hospital to take down my page. They found it inappropriate to offer 'viruses!
Well, they are entitled to decide where their donations come from and therefore I changed my plan, set up a new fundraising page , directly for the NHS and raised £500 within a short time.I kept going for a long time and eventually I raised more and more money. I was also aked by people who had lost a person due to Covid, to put the name of their loved ones on a virus.I received many letters from people who told me about their experiences and the significance of this project for their own life.I made the viruses into a large quilt.The project became more and more popular and was shown in an exhibition in Rome and during the B-side festival on the Isle of Portland.In 2021 it was in an exhibition in Dorset Museum, together with some of my other work about the pandemic. I donated the quilt to the Museum and it will be shown as part of an exhibition about the Pandemic in the future
The virus quilt has a historical significance, because it documents the Pandemic 2020 in an abstract way.Some weeks ago I got a request from lady whose mother's name is on the quilt. She asked me to make replicas of this particular virus for herself and all her siblings. When she received them, she had them framed and gave one to each sibling. A little film about the Virus Project can be seen here.

https://youtu.be/8tfElOT7dXk?si=hf7AsSQemtHhDyFC