An exhibition on “Disease X” has returned online because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Museum of London previously looked at whether the city might be at risk from an unknown disease.
The exhibition closed its doors in March last year, before the coronavirus pandemic, but is now online.
Life has changed in ways almost unimaginable since we created our #DiseaseX exhibition back in 2018. Now we are sharing the stories, objects and words from that exhibition online, to show what the past can tell us about epidemics & their impact on London: https://t.co/U4UivcY6dJ pic.twitter.com/40nAVD4Vkw
— Museum for London (@MuseumofLondon) May 21, 2020
“Since creating the original Disease X exhibition, Londoners’ lives have changed dramatically in a way we could not have anticipated,” curator of social and working history Vyki Sparkes said.
“We hope that this digital exhibition gives some historical context to the situation facing London, and indeed the world, today.”
The exhibition “aimed to link past, present and future together… to look at what impact any future outbreak may have on London”.
The opening of Disease X in 2018 marked the 100th anniversary of the second and most deadly wave of the so-called Spanish Flu.
Objects on display included the mourning dress worn by Queen Victoria after her grandson died with Russian flu.
The museum recently announced it is seeking to collect first-hand experiences of how coronavirus is changing society.
Curators want objects, together with first-person testimony, for future generations to be able to look back and understand this “extraordinary time”.
The exhibition is at https://virtualexhibitions.museumoflondon.org.uk/disease-x/