Here we are again. The things keeping me sane during (yet another) lockdown...
What a week?! Yet another reminder that life can change in an instant.
For those who may not know what I’m talking about, my hometown of Melbourne has been in its fourth stage-4 lockdown since midnight last Thursday. This means we can only leave the house for essentials, we have to stay within a 5km radius and children must be homeschooled. While we are nowhere near to experiencing the devastation and heartbreak of other parts of the world, it still stings. What's been perhaps hardest to see, are the events businesses (including the much anticipated arts program Rising Melbourne) get cancelled or postponed.
I was incredibly fortunate to have parents who believed the arts to be one of the most important elements of life; we were surrounded by music, poetry, literature, theatre, opera and ballet. The arts give us all so much and it's been heartbreaking to watch this sector be hit HARD by the pandemic. While so many small businesses have been negatively impacted, the arts seems to have taken wave after wave after wave, never quite catching a much-needed break.
One of my lovely clients, Erin Milne of Bureau of Works (an incredible producer, mentor and strategist) even created these t-shirts about all the "un-producing" producers were forced to do as a result of Covid-19. (If you’re ever looking for someone who is truly inspiring, connect with Erin, she's #wittyasanything).
Yet, despite being one of most negatively impacted sectors of small business, the arts industry has also been one of the most generous in terms of giving us ways to enjoy and appreciate life in lockdown. From Zoom meet-ups, online concerts, an abundance of well written TV shows and documentaries, entertaining podcasts, DIY art projects, virtual exhibition tours, spectacular tunes and designer colouring books, we owe so much of our ability to keep going during the last 18 months to the arts community.
So today, I thought I’d share some of the tools and platforms that creative people and arts companies have created, that many of us have benefited from, particularly as we work our way through the challenges of pandemic life right now. Whether you’re in lockdown, like me, or you’re just in need or a little creative inspiration, these will help.
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· Melbourne Spoken Word (click on videos to see more (like this one from Miss Yankey) and check out the SLAMALAMADINGDONG! YouTube channel)
· Online exhibitions from the Guggenheim Museum, New York
· Emotive tracks by musician, Jo Elise (who penned this beautiful track when Covid first hit Australia for the Good Business Group - I've literally played it 100s of times)
· Original Theatre Online (available to view worldwide)
· Digital templates for creative crafts from Kitiya Palaskas (check out her YouTube and IG too for ideas and inspo)
· Virtual tour of the 2020 Triennial at the National Gallery of Victoria
· A Pattern to Everyday (a gorgeous printable colouring book) by Tess McCabe, available at Creative Minds
· Virtual tour including featured exhibitions at the National Palace Museum, Taipei
· Live and Online comedy shows
· Art Break an interview series with artists and Danielle Robson, founder of Soda Arts
· Screenings from a local filmmaker in your area (like these for Happy Sad Man by Genevieve Bailey)
· Raw Arts' DIY Art Kits for Kids
· A whole host of amazing virtual events via CAPSlockdown by The Capitol
· The Random Art project (where a computer actually makes your art based on the name you give it)
The list above is just a tiny smattering of the platforms and tools that artists everywhere have worked so hard to create. If you have the means, please consider how you might give back to the arts community in your area — whether supporting them with ongoing monthly donations, sharing their event listings with your audiences, purchasing tickets to an upcoming show, referring work to them, choosing to support the arts when you're next buying a gift, paying for an artwork or print, hosting a screening of a doco or film, and/or sending them a letter of support and gratitude.
As Pablo Picasso once said, “art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”. And don’t we all need a little of that, right now?
To anyone reading this who works or runs a business in this sector, thank you for all your do.