The COVID-19 (2020) collection at the NML Medical Museum continues to grow, thanks to contributions of museum visitors, library readers and others. In the time of emergency, when both the Museum and the Library were closed to public, we began collecting and preserving objects to remember the pandemic, the efforts of people in the Czech lands and elsewhere to shield themselves, their loved ones and all those in need from the disease, the endeavor od health workers and other helping profession to assist the ill and protect the healthy, as well as the controversies regarding hygienic measures and restrictions on everyday life.

Face masks became the iconic objects of the COVID pandemic. The exhibition is built about face masks and their history: homemade and imported, contemporary and historical, simple and colorful, made using staples and made using nanofibers. It expands, however, to include medicines promising cure, tests, protective equipment that has been used and misused, as well as images, postal stamps and toys that give a face to the complicated present and perhaps alleviate the anxiety that has accompanied us in the corona times.

If you want to contribute to the COVID collection and/ or just want to see it, let us know. We wish you the best of health and look forward to meeting you in the Medical Museum and the museum web pages.