A recent competition hosted by the UP Archives asked members of the University community to reflect on the themes of loss, pause and hope in the context of their personal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As South Africa passed the second anniversary of the national lockdown prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UP Archives initiated a third competition to record the voices of the UP community during these unique times.

In 2020, the #UPStaySafe project called for photographs by UP students and staff that captured the first year of life under lockdown. In 2021, the UP Archives “Recollecting COVID-19 – 365 days under lockdown” competition generated a wide range of entries, from videos and songs to essays and artworks, documenting the struggles and triumphs of a second year of social distancing and online teaching and learning.

The 2022 competition, “Loss, pause and hope”, asked members of the UP community to reflect on these themes in the context of their personal experiences during the pandemic. Again, the entries covered a range of formats, from poetry and essays to artworks that touched on the disruption caused by the pandemic.

The entries poignantly highlight the heartbreak of losing loved ones, and the interruptions, disconnections and disappointments of the social isolation brought on by pandemic restrictions.

As UP and the country as a whole emerged from national lockdown, some of the entries also carried a strong message of hope. Many student contributions highlighted a return to face-to-face learning, and included the benefits and joys of the social campus environment.

The winning entries embody all the themes of the competition in touching and innovative ways.

First prize went to Lynne Davies for her piece Grey Scale Memories, which expressed deep and personal loss. She has won R5 000.

Due to the merit and variety of formats entered, the judges awarded prizes for joint second place to Katleo Makhanya for the piece Page Break and to Brittany Clarke and Duncan Lotter for their entry, The Silent Scourge of Online Learning. Each of these entries won R2 500.

The UP Archives is grateful for all the submissions that it has received over the past three years, as these establish a valuable resource, capturing the feelings and perspectives of many of UP’s staff and students regarding the pandemic. These voices will supplement and enrich the University’s official record of the pandemic, which is also collected and preserved in the Archives. The UP Archives is planning to publish a selection of the entries digitally with the Faculty of Humanities’ Emerging Scholars’ Initiative Press (ESI Press: https://esipress.up.ac.za) early in 2023.