Under the new norm of ‘social distancing’, cultural institutions around the world are facing one of the biggest challenges in their history. In South Korea, museums and art galleries have been allowed to open their doors after two months of shutdown as a result of the decreasing number of newly reported COVID-19 cases. Hyewon CHOI reports on how museums in South Korea have maintained engagement with audiences during lockdown, and how they are preparing to reopen their doors to visitors.
Blogs
Manchester Camerata: exploring the future of orchestral music
Rebecca Parnell reflects on Manchester Camerata’s planned programme of live activity and discusses the orchestra’s commitment to research and the possible digital future of orchestral concerts.
Cultural Access and the ‘New Normal’
Helen Rees Leahy discusses the politics and provision of cultural access during and after the Coronavirus lockdown. Her focus is on museums in the UK and the challenges they face in ensuring and expanding equitable access in a society that is both united by the experience of the pandemic and also divided by inequalities of health, space, time and wealth.
Finding Value in the Challenges of COVID-19
Frances Liddell asks what researchers can do to help the museum sector during COVID-19. In considering the materials created by museums during lockdown, she finds that her question could be answered through exploring the vast amounts of content available online.
The value of parks in everyday lockdown
Abi Gilmore considers how the COVID-19 crisis is shaping cultural participation and the practicing of public space in urban parks. She reflects on how it is also reshaping a current research and public engagement project in a Manchester park, Platt Fields, and its co-located museum, Platt Hall.
What collecting spontaneous memorials can tell us about collecting COVID-19 – Part I
Kostas Arvanitis reflects on what collecting spontaneous memorials after traumatic events, such as terrorist attacks, can tell us about collecting (experiences of) COVID-19 and life under lockdown.