March 2021

 A Brave New World

Installation view of the 'Garfield Weston' gallery,
 MK Calling 2020, with the vitrine my art was displayed in (right)
Picture credit: MK Gallery. 

Contemporary Drama

MK Calling 2020 is the longest-running exhibition I've been in so far. This group exhibition, at MK Gallery, opened in February 2020, temporarily closed for lockdown late in March and finally re-opened with an extension until November 2020. In all that time, I managed just two visits in person, as I've being at home every since the first lockdown. 

Of course, like many other people, I was hoping the COVID-19 pandemic would be over quickly and wondering when, or if, we would get back to 'normal' life. Initially I was optimistic that I'd catch up with my reading, make art, maybe start designing an online arts course. The reality was that my productivity ground to a halt. Instead of breaking new ground online, my broadband struggled as everyone around me logged on at home. Eventually my creative outlook re-emerged to focus on drawing nearer to home, as I've done in the past.

Installation view during MK Calling 2020,
including the vitrine with my art display
Picture credit: MK Gallery. 

Creating New Pathways

However, I was heartened to see lots of other people launch online art clubs and events, making the most of people's extra spare time as they worked from home and spent less time travelling. The availability of events, using Zoom and other online resources, has hopefully squashed a lot of arguments against flexible access, where travelling distance, time and costs have meant that some events have been inaccessible to many. The ability to screen and record events for sharing online, engage with communities via social media, run live interactive events on various platforms and even set up 'stalls' and promote work in international online events, mean that a lot of invisible access barriers have been flattened in the last year. If the arts want to support diversity, then this is one step closer to equal access for all.

In 2021, the availability of vaccinations and the natural optimism of Spring, is bringing hope to everyone. Whilst there is a temptation to simply return fixed locations to share art from, I'm hoping that some of the more distance-learning methods of sharing the arts will be here to stay. Here's to a more fluid and flexible access path to arts and crafts in the future.

Artists are always innovating and a more accessible approach to participatory arts and associated funding could be the start of a more connected era in the arts. If our brave new world has learnt some useful tricks from this pandemic, maybe some long-lasting benefit will have come out of it after all.

Installation view of my artwork 
 in the vitrine display of MK Calling 2020.
Picture credit: MK Galley / S. Raymond