Collective acts of reflection, remembrance, hope and healing with communities across Scotland

Remembering Together has commissioned artists in all 32 local authority areas in Scotland to co-create with communities and find ways of honouring the people we have lost and find the ways we want to remember them. The project was also about acknowledging all the ways Covid is still affecting us. We offered a place to connect, to reflect and to create.

Remembering Together was about creating together, being part of a process to commemorate those who have lost their lives, and those who have experienced loss and change. It was also about recognising and celebrating the ways in which Scottish communities have come together during the most difficult times.

Remembering Together ran from July 2021 until September 2024, offering a space to come together with others to share and process what Covid has meant, and continues to mean, for communities across the country.

What are we remembering?

Covid touched, and continues to affect, everyone in Scotland, and across the world. Coming together during the 3 years of the project gave us some space to pause, to reflect and to consider all that has happened and is still happening. Remembering Together has supported many ways of being together and remembering these months and years. Remembering those lost, remembering that we are all touched by this experience, and remembering that for many who were experiencing inequality already, the impact is deeper. This project was also about remembering and reconnecting with each other after periods of isolation while remembering that Covid is not over yet - this is a time of continuing change. Remembering Together has also acknowledge and embody the ways in which communities continue to support one another.

What did we co-create?

Remembering Together has captured and produced a diverse range of responses to the pandemic and the memorials have been co-created as Covid continues to impact people across the country. The project might not have resulted in traditional memorials and has shown the breadth of experience and creativity in communities across Scotland. Artists have co-created with communities with support from local organisations and greenspace scotland. The commissioned artists have been committed to co-creation and collaboration and they have worked with people in the community to define what ‘memorial’ meant for that specific place. Some communities wanted a place they can go, some wanted a structure they can visit and to see their loved ones named. Other communities wanted to co-create music, movement, films, online projects, a series of events and gatherings, or books and publications. What people wanted and needed may also changed as we continued to live through and come to terms with Covid in Scotland.

Most important is that the programme was relevant to communities, was aware of the wide range of experiences people were having, welcomed people to co-create safely and in a range of ways, and allowed those involved to express honestly what this time meant for them.

How did local communities, individuals and groups get involved?

Remembering Together was for communities and people to connect with each other, have space to express their experiences with artists and creative practitioners, and shape a memorial project for their local area. Some people will have lost someone during Covid. For others, this will have been a time of great change or challenges they already faced will have been made more difficult because of the pandemic. Remembering Together was about starting to remember and memorialise these people and experiences.

Every local authority area wase funded to co-create a memorial project. Artists were commissioned through local authority partnerships in each local authority area. This partnership could have included include your local council, culture trust or third sector organisations or arts or community organisations working across your local authority area. A lead partner was be the main link for people and communities who wanted to be part of the programme.

In some areas, partners have worked with a small group of community members in the first phase of co-creation before opening up to everyone in the area. In others, all those living in the area were invited to co-create with the artist/creative practitioner from the very beginning.

There are other ways to follow Remembering Together; you can find out more and see contributions to the programme on our Reflections and Voices page.

Learn more about what happened in your area by clicking on the button below.