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Memorials for the COVID-19 pandemic

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Memorial tree in Curracloe, Ireland, with quote by Pádraig Pearse.

Several permanent and temporary memorials for the global COVID-19 pandemic have been built. The pandemic started in 2020, and has caused the deaths of several million people worldwide.

Permanent

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London

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The National Covid Memorial Wall in 2021
The COVID-19 Memorial Woodland

The National Covid Memorial Wall is a wall in London, along the South Bank of the River Thames. Started in March 2021, it stretches for over 500 metres and is filled with over 150,000 red hearts hand-painted by volunteers. Each heart represents a person who died with COVID-19 on their death certificate.[1]

The COVID-19 Memorial Woodland is a part of Hornchurch Country Park in the London Borough of Havering, England. It has over 4,000 trees, and opened on the country's National Day of Reflection, marking two years since the first UK lockdown.[2] Also in London, is the London Blossom Garden in the London Borough of Newham, near London Stadium. It has 33 blossom trees arranged in three circles to represent the 33 boroughs of London. This type of tree was decided upon because they blossom in March—the month that the first lockdowns began.[3]

Belgium

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Onuments are circular memorial sites in Belgium, created by psychiatrist Uus Knops and landscape architect Bas Smets. Designed for reflection, mourning, and solace, they consist of 13 concrete seating elements in a broken circle, symbolizing the disruption of the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. Each site is uniquely integrated into its natural surroundings, inviting both personal and communal use.[4]

The first Onument was inaugurated on June 20, 2021, in Kortrijk's Begraafpark Hoog Kortrijk, followed by a second on March 13, 2022, at Campo Santo in Ghent. Subsequent Onuments opened on December 4, 2022, in the Lommel German war cemetery, and on December 3, 2022, on a hill in Aarschot. On March 13, 2024, new sites were unveiled in Leuven's Egenhoven and Brussels' Osseghem Park.[4]

Maryland, United States

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As far as yet established, the world’s first Covid-19 memorial was created in Germantown, Maryland, in the spring of 2020 by artist A. Chris Wikman. As a sculpture, The Covid Memorial Pyramid was created using naturally found materials around the site, including quartz for the face stones and a mix of dirt, clay, shredded pine needles and water for the mortar, with minimal disturbance to the local ecology. The geometry of the pyramid follows closely that of the Great Pyramid of Giza (Egypt), and the faces are closely aligned to the four compass directions. An engraved wooden memorial plaque stands near the memorial.[5][6][7][8]

The Covid Memorial Pyramid in Maryland, USA in 2020

Temporary

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In America: Remember was a temporary art installation in the National Mall in Washington, D.C. from 17 September to 3 October 2021. It had one small white flag placed in the mall for every American who died as a result of COVID-19. At the start of the display, it had 600,000 flags, and by the end of it, 701,133.[9]

Planned and proposed

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The Essential Workers Monument is a proposed monument in New York City to commemorate key workers during the pandemic.[10][11] Skyway Park, a park currently being developed (as of 2020) in Jersey City, New Jersey, will have a COVID-19 memorial.[12]

The COVID-19 Memorial Monument of Honor, Remembrance and Resilience is a public memorial under construction in Chicago's Illinois Medical District, scheduled for completion in late 2025.[13]

References

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  1. ^ Sachdeva, Manpreet Kaur (30 March 2021). "COVID-19: Bereaved families paint mural of almost 150,000 red hearts to represent victims". Sky News. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  2. ^ Ross, Jordon (23 March 2022). "Havering opens Memorial Woodland two years on from start of the Pandemic". www.havering.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Covid: New London garden to commemorate pandemic victims". 27 November 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Onumenten". Uus Knops (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 January 2025.
  5. ^ Pollak, Suzanne (19 January 2021). "Germantown Artist Hopes His Memorial to COVID Victims Can Stay". MyMCM (Montgomery County Media). Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  6. ^ Parrott, Janay (20 January 2021). "Local artist builds Covid memorial, hopes it will stay". DC News Now. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  7. ^ Herron, Patrick (27 January 2021). "Update: COVID-19 Memorial in Black Hill Park". The MoCo Show. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  8. ^ "The Covid-19 Memorial Pyramid". The Covid-19 Memorial Pyramid. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  9. ^ Gunts, Edward (4 October 2021). "In America: Remember ends its run on the National Mall as flags top 700,000". The Architect’s Newspaper. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  10. ^ Slattery, Denis (2 July 2021). "Cuomo's essential workers memorial being moved after backlash from Battery Park City". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  11. ^ Wong, Ashley (13 July 2021). "Battery Park Monument for Essential Workers Paused After Protests". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  12. ^ Acevedo, Gaby (4 December 2020). "Jersey City Announces Plan for COVID-19 Memorial Park at Former Superfund Site". NBC New York. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  13. ^ Marszałek, Joanna (10 February 2025). "Chicago will be home of global COVID-19 monument to honor victims, front-line workers". Chicago Sun-Times.
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