Nova Scotia HeartStrings
Statement and video
On August 30, 2022, members of PoPNS hung the Nova Scotia HeartStrings art installation on the fence of Province House to commemorate those who were known to have died of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia. Each hand-cut felt heart represents a person's life. The installation shows COVID-19 deaths in six-month increments, with white hearts representing those who died before the provincial government removed protections in March 2022, and red hearts representing those who died after protections were removed. Deaths due to COVID-19 have continued at an alarming pace, even since the HeartStrings installation.
Text description of artwork
The installation was composed of hundreds of felt hearts, each approximately 10 centimetres tall, strung up in horizontal rows and hung on five sections of the fence surrounding Province House in downtown Halifax. Each section represented one six-month period of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nova Scotia, from March 2020 to August 2022, when Nova Scotia HeartStrings was displayed. Each section of the artwork was accompanied by a quote, printed on laminated paper and attached to the fence, drawn from one of the government press briefings held during that period of the pandemic. Each section of the artwork is outlined below:
Section 1 – March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020. Quotation: "Stay the Blazes Home." This section has 65 white hearts.
Section 2 – September 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021. Quotation: "Caring, Community, and Common Sense." This section has no hearts, as there were no deaths during this period.
Section 3 – March 1, 2021 to August 31, 2021. Quotation: "Not Out of the Woods." 26 white hearts.
Section 4 – September 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022. Quotation: "Learn to Live With It." 107 white hearts.
Section 5 – March 1, 2022 to August 22, 2022. Quotation: "This Is Not Unexpected." There is also an additional quote from Premier Tim Houston from the March 18 pandemic briefing, on the removal of Covid protection: "There will no doubt be bumps along the way as we move forward, but we are on the right road." There are 34 white hearts and 260 red hearts, representing a total of 294 pandemic deaths in Nova Scotia during this period.
As of March 22, 2023, a total of 807 Nova Scotians are known to have died of COVID-19. That's 315 more deaths since HeartStrings was created and 575 since the government lifted pandemic protections.
Media coverage
"Hear why a group of citizens has created a memorial to people who died from COVID-19". Information Morning. CBC Radio. 30 August 2022.
"String of 492 felt hearts installed outside Province House to recognize COVID-19 deaths". CBC. 30 August 2022.
"Memorial honouring Nova Scotians lost to COVID-19 hangs at Province House". CTV News Atlantic. 30 August 2022.