Research and creative project is conducting a public survey on how COVID-19 changed shopping and consumption experiences

Through artistic-anthropolo­gical research and creative practice, You Are What You Buy (YAWYB) reacts to current issues on consumption and consumerism.

The first edition of the pro­ject reflected on our need to affirm ourselves as consumers. It questioned the effects of consumption on us as buyers and assessed the blurred line between consumption and consumerism. Both the research and the artistic presentation took place in a supermarket in Malta between 2016 and 2017.

Open call for You Are What You Buy (YAWYB) – A Remote ReVisit.

YAWYB is currently transitioning into a new stage, entitled YAWYB – A Remove ReVisit. As a starting point, the second edition of the project, having research as its main focus, is inviting the public to take part in an independent survey.

The survey aims to capture the impact of COVID-19 on the participants’ shopping and consumption experiences, relating to food, household products and dining out, and how these might have changed and/or are still changing throughout the partial lockdown and post-lockdown periods.

The data collected will be processed by project artist Kristina Borg and anthropologist Virginia Monteforte to highlight any emerging common patterns.

All information will be treated as confidential and anecdotes anonymised. Information will be used for research purposes, which will be presented to the public in a crea­tive manner later this year.

The data collected will be processed by project artist Kristina Borg and anthropologist Virginia Monteforte

Participants may withdraw their response at any time. Should survey participants wish to further collaborate in the research process they will be asked to share their contact details at the end of the survey.

 The survey may be completed by adult individuals and can be accessed online through the project’s Facebook page You Are What You Buy.

Alternatively, prospective participants may schedule an appointment by calling or messaging 7921 3925 and the survey will take place over the phone.

The project team will be responsible for the survey call expenses. The completion of the survey over the phone should take around 10 minutes.

The deadline for completing the survey questionnaire is July 17. The project is supported by Arts Council Malta’s Malta Arts Fund ‒ Research Support Grant.