The lockdown continues, but for those who don’t want to miss out on art and culture during this time, there is more and more to discover online. We’ve compiled our favorite links for you.On Instagram, curator Chus Martínez tells her “Corona Tales.” “I noticed while working with my team that people are getting more and more nervous when someone coughs,” says Martínez. “That's when I remembered the stories my grandparents told me about the Spanish flu between 1918 and 1920.” Martinez says she wants to tell such stories “in the hope that we can see our problems with a little more air.”
The artist and poet Miranda July staged an entire Covid International Arts Festival on her Instagram channel. The idea came to her while she was doing the dishes. Hundreds of entries were sent to her, and July chose the winners. The main winner's entry is not entirely G-rated, though. But there are also mini-readings from July's new book by some of her friends, including Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne.
The Instagram page of Warsaw’s Zachęta National Gallery was transformed into a total work of art during the lockdown. Every week, different artists curate the account. There are excellent archive photos from the Polish art scene and even live evenings with Fortnite, probably the hottest survival game on the net.
Across the globe, people in lockdown are recreating artworks from museums in their own four walls—using things and materials they find in their homes. Among these competitions, the Getty Museum's challenge on Twitter takes the cake.
“Self-care has never been more important, on a global level. The creative potential of solitude is going to be completely rethought,” says Nick Hallett. He and his partner Shana Moulton shot a sequel to their surreal soap opera Whispering Pines, which is about being alone. A woman wants to save the world but cannot leave the house. Now doesn’t that sound familiar?
Alima Lee was nominated for the Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award, a prize for up-and-coming film artists that was presented for the first time at the last Frieze LA. Now she has initiated the series Films for Isolation, which focuses on things that really matter to us.
Frieze LA took place in the pre-Covid-19 world. Anyone who wants to see the intervention by U.S. artist Barbara Kasten again in the context of the art fair can do so now on Vernissage TV.
Berliners love their Philharmonic Orchestra. And they love Berlin and the whole world. During the lockdown, music lovers have free access to the orchestra’s Digital Concert Hall. Browse through more than 600 archive recordings, interviews, and films and bring the world-famous orchestra to your couch.
The Metropolitan Opera in New York is also presenting outstanding opera productions with its free Nightly Opera Streams. Every week there is a new program. The spectrum ranges from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly to Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss.
The Jewish Museum in Berlin has designed an entire Museum on Screen. You can learn about the museum’s history, watch video projects, and take digital walks to important Jewish sites in the city. You only have to walk to the fridge alone.
Who wouldn’t want to have a bedtime story read to them by Jake Gyllenhaal? Or by Glenn Close? Or Chris Pratt, Reese Witherspoon, J.J. Abrams, Kelly Clarkson, Eva Longoria, and so on. SaveWithStories, an initiative launched by Amy Adams and Jennifer Garner, makes this possible. Across the United Sates, schools are shutting down due to the coronavirus pandemic. But millions of children in the U.S. go to school not just to learn, but also have breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner there. In partnership with Save the Children and No Kid Hungry, SaveWithStories is offering stories on Instagram and Facebook to provide fun and education to kids and parents stuck at home during the coronavirus outbreak. Your donation will help to make sure schools and community programs have the support they need to keep brains and bellies full.
April 23 is World Book Day! To mark this occasion, the PalaisPopulaire is presenting Crime Time with video readings and exciting recommendations from our partner bookstore Uslar & Rai.
Here are some interesting links from Deutsche Bank partner institutions:
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art is offering a video sneak preview of William Kentridge’s video installation More Sweetly Play the Dance. The curator explains it.
The Fondazione Prada, in cooperation with the art-house streaming platform MUBI, is presenting a real mini film festival titled Perfect Failures.
The Sydney Biennial, scheduled for March 14, was hit hard by Covid-19. It is billed as the most political and spiritual biennial of all time. For those who are interested and now have to wait for the event, there is the Get Ready Experience online.
Plus a side trip to Johannesburg: The Centre for the Less Good Idea was initiated by Phala O. Phala and William Kentridge, who, shortly before the lockdown, presented this extraordinary institution’s upcoming performance and reading program in clips.
ArtMag team