This COVID Recollections entry highlights an upcoming symposium and concert, both focused on COVID-19 and cultural heritage, which will take place at the Library of Congress on March 12 and 13, 2026. These events are free and open to the public, but the concert requires pre-registration.
The American Folklife Center welcomes you to join a symposium titled, “From Lived Experience to Public Memory: Commemorating, Documenting, and Archiving Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” which will take place on March 12 and 13, 2026. The symposium will gather scholars, artists, documentarians, archivists, and community-based practitioners working at the intersection of COVID-19 and cultural heritage to explore how we document, perform, archive, and remember the COVID-19 pandemic. The symposium will feature ten distinct sessions, with presentations by the Kronos Quartet, Dr. Farina King (University of Oklahoma), and Elvia Arroyo-Ramirez (University of California, Irvine), just to name a few. A detailed schedule of the symposium is below.
The symposium will take place in the Mumford Room, located on the 6th floor of the Madison Building (101 Independence Ave. SE) of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, beginning at 9:00am on March 12th and 13th. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required to attend the symposium.
As part of the symposium, the American Folklife Center will host an evening concert with Amythyst Kiah, a Tennessee-based singer-songwriter, on Thursday, March 12, at 7pm. Part of Kiah’s performance will feature music written and recorded during quarantine for the COVID-19 pandemic. This event will be held in the Coolidge Auditorium, in the Jefferson Building (10 First St. SE) of the Library of Congress. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required for the concert. To register, and for more information, visit the concert’s Library of Congress event calendar listing.
This gathering is part of the COVID-19 American History Project—a Congressionally mandated initiative of the American Folklife Center to document Americans’ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. These events are also hosted in celebration of the American Folklife Center’s 50th anniversary.
For questions about the symposium, please contact [email protected] or visit the symposium’s website. We hope to see you in March!
Symposium Schedule
Thursday, March 12th
9:00am – Opening Remarks
- Nicole Saylor (Director, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress)
- Sandra Charles (Chief Medical Officer, Library of Congress)
- Moment of Silence with Rev. Barry Moultrie (Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, Rockville, MD)
9:15am – 10:45am – Session #1 – Folklore and COVID-19
- “Finding Comfort and Discomfort Through Foodways During the COVID-19 Pandemic” – Lucy Long (Center for Food and Culture)
- “Folk Art in the Time of Covid: Radical Care or Disaster Tourism or Both?” – Suzanne Seriff (University of Texas at Austin)
- “‘Spanish Flu’ Meets ‘Chinese Virus’: The Folklore of Global Pandemics in the 20th and 21st Centuries” – James Deutsch (Smithsonian Institution)
10:45am – 11:00am – Break
11:00am – 12:30pm – Session #2 – Play and COVID-19
- Book presentation about Play in a COVID Frame: Everyday Pandemic Creativity (Open Book Publishers, 2023) featuring authors:
- Anna Beresin (Emerita, The University of the Arts)
- Julia Bishop (University of Sheffield)
- Katriina Heljakka
- Will Renel and Jess Thom (Touretteshero)
12:30pm – 1:00pm – Session #3 – Performance and COVID-19
- Performance of “Marejada,” composed by Angélica Negrón, by the Kronos Quartet. Negrón wrote “Marejada” to be performed on Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Folklife Center staff will interview Negrón following the Zoom performance.
1:00pm – 2:00pm – Lunch
2:00pm – 3:30pm – Session #4 – Artistic Practice and COVID-19 Archival Collections
- Performance of “The Nanny Project” by Dr. Felicia V. Black and Courtney L. Black
3:30pm – 3:45pm – Break
3:45pm – 4:45pm – Session #5 – Native American perspectives on COVID-19 (Keynote address #1)
- Keynote presentation by Dr. Farina King (University of Oklahoma) – “‘We Are All Medicine’: Reflections on COVID-19 in Indian Country”
- Introduction by Dr. Ian Simon (Aspis Intelligence)
4:45pm – Closing Remarks
7:00pm – Musical performance by Amythyst Kiah, in Coolidge Auditorium (separate registration required, click here to register)
Friday, March 13th
9:00am – 10:30am – Session #6 – Commemoration and COVID-19
- “Naming the Lost Memorials: A New York City Commemoration Project Responding to COVID-19” – Kay Turner (New York University)
- “Quiltmaking in the Time of COVID” – Marsha MacDowell (Michigan State University)
- “‘Do We Get it Back?’: Music Participation and Adapted Practice in the COVID-19 Pandemic” – Jennie Williams (West Virginia Humanities Council)
10:30am – 10:45am – Break
10:45 – 11:45am – Session #7 – Recording Local Music during COVID-19
- Presentation about the “Out of Our Shells” project, led by Dr. Aram Sinnerich (American University). Presentation will feature a discussion with Sinnerich, Rob Coltun, Dunia Best, and musician Cheick Hamala Diabate, followed by a performance by Diabate.
11:45am – 12:00pm – Break
12:00 – 1:00pm – Session #8 – Latin American Musical Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Book presentation of ¡Maldito Coronavirus!: Mapping Latin American Musical Responses to the Pandemic Moment (Equinox Publishing, 2024) by authors Daniel Margolies and J.A. Strub
1:00pm – 2:00pm – Lunch
2:00pm – 3:00pm – Session #9 – Incarceration and COVID-19 in California (Keynote address #2)
- Keynote presentation by Elvia Arroyo-Ramírez (University of California, Irvine) – “Voices from the Inside: Centering Incarcerated Peoples’ Experiences in the Immediacy of COVID-19”
- Introduction by Jennifer Meehan (Director, Special Collections Directorate, Library of Congress)
3:00pm – 3:15pm – Break
3:15pm – 4:45pm – Session #10 – Appalachian Experiences of COVID-19
- Roundtable discussion titled, “How to Tell a Subtle Story in an Age of Soundbites: Finding, Recording, and Responsibly Retelling Stories from COVID Healthcare Workers and Patients in Rural Appalachia” featuring:
- Ashley Marshall (Community Services Chief, City of Savannah, GA)
- Beth O’Connor (Executive Director, Virginia Rural Health Association)
- Wendy Welch (Executive Director, Graduate Medical Education Consortium, Washington University in St. Louis)
- Sabah Zahra (Norton Community Hospital)
4:45pm – Closing Remarks