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 is also about acknowledging all the ways Covid is still affecting us. We offer a place to connect, to reflect and to create.

Remembering Together is 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 is also about recognising and celebrating the ways in which Scottish communities have come together during the most difficult times.

Remembering Together will continue through 2023 and into 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 touches, and continues to affect, everyone in Scotland, and across the world. Coming together now and through 2023 and into 2024 gives us some space to pause, to reflect and to consider all that has happened and is still happening. Remembering Together will support many ways of being together in and remembering these months and years. We will remember those lost, remember that we are all touched by this experience, and remember that for many who were experiencing inequality already, the impact is deeper. This project is 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 will also acknowledge and embody the ways in which communities continue to support one another.

What will we co-create?

Remembering Together will capture and produce a diverse range of responses to the pandemic and the memorials will be co-created as Covid continues to impact people across the country. The project might not result in traditional memorials and will show the breadth of experience and creativity in communities across Scotland. Artists will co-create with communities with support from local organisations and greenspace scotland. The commissioned artists will be committed to co-creation and collaboration and they will work with people in the community to define what ‘memorial’ means for that specific place. Some communities will want a place they can go, some will want a structure they can visit and to see their loved ones named. Other communities may want to co-create music, movement, film, an online project, a series of events and gatherings, or a travelling book. What people want and need may also change as we continue to live through and come to terms with Covid in Scotland.

Most important is that the programme is relevant to communities, is aware of the wide range of experiences people are having, welcomes people to co-create safely and in a range of ways, and allows those involved to express honestly what this time means for them.

How can I get involved?

Remembering Together is 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 is about starting to remember and memorialise these people and experiences and will continue until June 2024.

Communities, individuals and groups

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

If you, your group or community would like to connect with the programme, contact the Remembering Together team at greenspace scotland or your local partner.

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.

Find your local partner or learn more about what is happening in your area by clicking on the button below.