Portraits of a pandemic

A Beijing photo exhibition uses the theme of windows as a door to explore how people have coped during the COVID-19 outbreak, Lin Qi reports.

Never has there been a time when the little space provided by an open window has meant so much to so many.

While many people are largely confined indoors around the world because of the COVID-19 pandemic, windows' main function-to allow light and air inside-helps curb the virus.

Meanwhile, windows have become a symbol of freedom, and a channel for communication and exchanges of care for neighbors.

The Documenta 2020-Windows in Pandemic exhibition running at the Tsinghua University Art Museum through June 26 presents over 200 photos and videos. They express various perspectives on the global public-health crisis by sharing what photographers saw and how they lived, inside, through and outside of windows.