The Lifetime of the Covid Memorial Wall: Modelling with Collections Demography, Social Media Data and Citizen Science

Abstract

The National Covid Memorial Wall in London, featuring over 240,000 hand-painted red hearts, faces significant conservation challenges due to the rapid fading of the paint. This study evaluates the transition to a better-quality paint and its implications for the wall's long-term preservation. The rapid fading of the initial materials required an unsustainable repainting rate, burdening volunteers. Lifetime simulations based on a collections demography framework suggest that repainting efforts must continue at a rate of some hundreds of hearts per week to maintain a stable percentage of hearts in good condition. This finding highlights the need for a sustainable management strategy that includes regular maintenance or further reduction of the fading rate. Methodologically, this study demonstrates the feasibility of using a collections demography approach, supported by citizen science and social media data, to inform heritage management decisions. An agent-based simulation is used to propagate the multiple uncertainties measured. The methodology provides a robust basis for modeling and decision-making, even in a case like this, where reliance on publicly available images and volunteer-collected data introduces variability. Future studies could improve data within a citizen science framework by inviting public submissions, using on-site calibration charts, and increasing volunteer involvement for longitudinal data collection. This research illustrates the flexibility of the collections demography framework, firstly by showing its applicability to an outdoor monument, which is very different from the published case studies, and secondly by demonstrating how it can work even with low-quality data.