Our Lockdown Days
Mysha Islam
Photography
1100mm x 1400mm
On 24 March 2020, the Victorian Government announced that it would be shutting down non-essential services to manage the spread of Coronavirus which arrived in Australia only eight weeks earlier. This marked the start of a long period of lockdowns. Although these were experienced to different degrees right around Australia, Victorians were subjected to strict stay-at-home orders for four months, from June-October 2020. For Mysha, being in lockdown helped her to appreciate the value of spending quality time with her family. She began documenting her days at home and compiled these photographs into the Our Lockdown Days series. The artist says, “remote learning wasn’t easy, but my kids showed patience with the new system. They learned at their own pace with no peer pressure and became creative at playing with the limited resources they had. Eid was different than usual, but we felt grateful for the things we had. We learned new skills such as knitting and made baby toys and a beanie. And, finally, we were blessed with a healthy newborn. Now, we are patiently counting the days to reunite with our families overseas.”