Our first responders are on the ever-shifting front lines of a war they never signed up to fight, and yet are fighting with all their will. In these astonishing weeks since mid-March, they have made courageous efforts to keep us safe, to mend us, to feed us and to give us solace and hope. They have helped us exhale into another day, and for that we are grateful.

Public Displays of Motion is a company of collaborators that uses movement to illuminate the extraordinary in the everyday. And we are at a uniquely dynamic point of history where we are experiencing everyday actions as intensely extraordinary - more so than most of us have ever experienced before or will again.

As a means to mark this shared time in all our histories, we have conceived of Postcards From the Front, an exercise in storytelling, memory-keeping, embodied empathy and understanding. 

With an invitation to a range of first responders, Postcards From the Front pairs the recorded experiences of those on the shifting front lines of the COVID-19 Pandemic with the movement responses of PDM collaborators.

Translated into video “postcards”, these short performances will build bridges of understanding and togetherness from home to home while creating a time-capsule of what will be our shared history. Presented first through social media, then as a collaborative single online exhibit, Postcards From the Front will eventually become a series of printed postcards - tactile, illuminating memorabilia.

With a collective intake of air and its consequent exhalation, Postcards From the Front honors humanity’s grief, fears and frustrations simultaneously with simple joys of the moment and hope as we shift forward and move beyond.

We understand the definition of “frontline” is wide and vast. Is this you? Learn more about how to submit your story here.

For audiences interested in following the progress of the project, please be sure to engage with us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter!