The MUN's 'Narrating so as not to forget' project invites people to share personal accounts of their experiences during the pandemic in Navarre.

The Museo Universidad de Navarra begins in March Narrating so as not to forget,a project that seeks to record personal accounts of the impact of Covid-19 in Navarra. Its main objective is to safeguard the current collective experience for future generations, placing value on the story as a tool for the emotional integration of the facts and their interpretations.

As Dailey Fernandez, a graduate of the Museum's Master in Curatorial Studies at the Museum and curator of the project, among the goals of the proposal is "to offer the tool of narrative with a healing purpose to deal with a complex reality and the traumas it has provoked". Likewise, the aim is to "value personal narratives and provide a channel for them, as well as to collect and archive the diverse experiences of the community, information that can be very useful for current or subsequent studies on how this health crisis has been experienced at all levels: economic, social, psychological and emotional".

 The initiative invites all people living in Navarra, of different ages (from 14 years old), backgrounds and sectors, to share their experiences in the form of stories, which can be accompanied by images, videos and audio files. All the people who want to participate can do it through the project website. The testimonies received will be available to the general public and for research purposes. Their maximum length is 4,000 characters and they can be sent, in Spanish or Basque, signed or anonymously. Along with Dailey Fernández, the team is made up of Nieves Acedo, director of Museum Programs; María Ozcoidi, coordinator; and Inés Olza, mediator and expert in narratives.

Narrating so as not to forget uses the methodology of storytellingfollowing in the footsteps of other similar projects that have already been carried out in the cultural field for different purposes, "for tender puentes between cultural institutions, museums and their respective communities," says Fernández. "The writing exercise is privileged for all that it entails on an emotional and psychological level. But there is also the possibility of sharing images to complement the story," he emphasizes. Through these stories, we can "feel accompanied and blur distances or differences of all kinds in the midst of a situation that is common to all of us. It is about giving a voice and offering a channel.