The interior has never been given such attention as it is now, a time when maps of the world represent COVID–19’s movement as ripples crossing continents, with daily recordings of cases increasing and decreasing, or coming to a halt between neighbouring countries’ now sealed borders. At the global scale, political borders have abstract boundary lines, yet on the ground, walls and poche of living spaces act as immediate buffers between individuals and neighbours. Even closer, face-masks intimately screen-off those friends and families not in one’s immediate bubble. During these periods of lockdown, items are brought inside to keep safe and clean: toilet paper, medical alcohol, disinfectant; while some items are moved out: shoes, delivery boxes; and some areas designated for interior quarantine before being fully integrated into the interior. Rooms are now rearranged to toggle between work and life.
Interior Archipelago–Postcards from Our Islands is an international project that captures the familiar, but transformed interior during this time. Daily routines have been interrupted and with that, our ability to travel at will, we primarily journey from room to room. Postcards recall travel while acting as souvenirs. This presentation frames souvenirs as images from lock-down in the form of postcard sized works. These might be images as one travels within a domestic setting, details, encounters online and similar found experiences. This collection reflects the design communities of students, faculty and staff from The Glasgow School of Art in Scotland and Singapore; the School of Interior Design at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada and Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. The thirteen-hour time span across continents and countries provides insight into how these design communities shape their interiors through making.