Covid-19 has brought us three lockdowns spanning more than a year and the entire nation has been imprisoned with only a few brief windows of freedom. This has led to feelings of anxiety, isolation and loneliness not only in the UK, but across the world. Outside of the pandemic, worldwide events such as the death of George Floyd has changed the narrative of how people express themselves culturally and artistically.
One type of event that has taken off since lockdown is the virtual event. Due to the sheer amount of cancelled live events last summer, throughout the pandemic, online events have been the only saving grace for much of the arts and culture sector. From festivals, to live performances, a number major events have been reconfigured to be lockdown friendly. Two notable successes are V festival and Tomorrowland festival which raised the bar for online events. Some of our favourite London based poetry platforms made a brilliant transition to online events which kept expression a priority when people needed it most. The era of virtual events is far from over, and we’re looking forward to what creatives do with this new avenue of the arts.
Notable events over the last year, and even events before the pandemic hit has had a significant impact on how people have been inspired to showcase their art. The death of Nipsey Hussle in 2019, and the very public death of George Floyd in 2020 sparked a wave of artistic expression across the streets of the US in the form of art work, protests, inspirational speeches, and so much more.
Fast forward to now, the marathon still continues as the black community in the United States fight racism through artistic and cultural outlets. 2020 saw fashion designers showcasing their work via live streamed runway shows, and people still demanding answers after the 2017 Grenfell tragedy. Artists were inspired by the fact that our lockdown caused the beauty of the earth to emerge in new forms, and poets turned to their notepads to deal with the life of limbo we were trapped it. It’s safe to say that although the arts and culture sector was stunted, the creatives that play a part in that sector made sure to preserve it.
Intimate events are set to be very popular moving forward from the pandemic. By intimate I mean those that make you feel comfortable emerging back into the world as opposed to those that make you feel like you’re lost in the crowd. Many people are leaning towards creating more intimate events that are more about quality rather than quality. This was to be expected after being locked down over the course of a year, but consumers are just as enthusiastic to enjoy new experiences. From the success of our recent Women’s Poetry Brunch, we can definitely say that intimate events are here to stay when it comes to arts and culture.
Wordplay & Flow 