Summary

Two pieces of used orange chalk (originally one piece), one of a number of chalks and other tools used by Elizabeth and Esther Li to create drawings in their Glen Waverley driveway during the covid-19 lockdown in Melbourne, May - June 2020.

This item is part of a collection of images, chalk drawing equipment and massage cards relating to the story of the Li family who were caught up in the covid pandemic lockdowns in China during a return visit to see family in January 2020, and then were in self-isolation at home in Glen Waverley in February-March 2020 prior to the broadly applied first wave of COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria from late March 2020. The chalk materials were used by Elizabeth and Esther Li to draw pictures in the family's driveway during the restrictions and the images were taken by their parents Zheng and Grace Li to document the activities. Further images document Zheng Li and Grace Ji in China before they migrated to Australia in 2005, the family's first return visit to China in 2020 and their domestic activities during the second lockdown in Melbourne.

Physical Description

Small block of used orange chalk and larger piece of orange chalk

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This collection provides an insight into how families and communities have interacted during the COVID-19 lockdown in Australia. Creative expressions on streets, in driveways, house windows, and alleyways, by residents has been a common manifestation of community connection during lockdown - chalk drawings on footpaths and in driveways particularly popular. Here the children produced the drawings and photographs were taken by a family member documenting the activities. This collection thus encompasses the experiences, perceptions and voices of children, it represents suburban Melbourne in its geographic location, it demonstrates how families collectively act to participate in their neighbourhoods, and domestic creativity. Finally this story also provides a transnational narrative, with the family moving between countries and experiencing the impacts of the pandemic in two places in two hemispheres.

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