Lockdown Letters to Horace
An art installation at Strawberry Hill House
November 2020
By Judith North, Kate Proudman and Charmaine Stimson
During the first COVID-19 lockdown, Strawberry Hill House launched ‘Write to Horace’. Over 250 people responded and through their letters have shared their unique observations and experiences, serving as a snapshot of the area around the house during these strange times.
The show gives visitors the opportunity to read and reflect on the letters through an installation, a series of responses to the letters, using film, sound and installation. The artworks explored the testimony of the letters themselves and the many contradictions evident: Highly individual letters spoke loudly of a collective experience and carefully handwritten messages were all delivered and received digitally due to lockdown.
In addition, for many, lockdown brought huge emotional and financial distress. Whilst there are hints of the negative, the work, based on letters mostly written by children under the age of 11, reflected a largely positive view of the first lockdown.
