From facemasks and gardening equipment to a television showing RTÉ News, the 'Little Houses' exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks in Dublin captures images of the pandemic many of us will be familiar with.
The museum worked with Stoneybatter Youth Services to ask young people to document their experience of lockdown. The idea to make art in the form of 'Little Houses' came from youth worker Johanna Visser who was inspired by a similar exhibition 'Miniatuurhuis' in the Netherlands.
Among the artists is 11-year-old Paige McCluskey, whose family was badly hit by Covid-19. She created a miniature hospital ward complete with a nurse in the now familiar PPE.
Meanwhile, Jamine Lee Stott's piece speaks of the lack of motivation she felt during lockdown, and Octavian Pampareu created a miniature Tayto Park, one of the places he missed when it closed.
Irina Pampareu drew herself in black and white, saying her work shows how alone and lost she felt during lockdown and how much she missed the world outside.
The National Museum has been actively collecting objects to reflect the pandemic, and this exhibition will add to this collection of responses to the pandemic.
The exhibition also features a short film made by local film maker Luke McManus, which gives voice to some of the young artists' thoughts and ideas behind their artworks, while photographer Andy Sheridan has documented each artwork for the exhibition's online version.
There is no denying how tough many of the young people found the period of lockdown, but they have now created artwork that demonstrates their resilience and has made it all the way to an exhibition space in the National Museum of Ireland.
