Art in emergency

Artwork at The Covid Art Museum

Two years ago, when the world came to a complete standstill, most of us scrolled through our devices watching how people from across the globe were coping with staying quarantined at home or recuperating from a mysterious new virus. From impromptu musical concerts across balconies in Italy to running marathons within a living room in China - everyone got creative in finding ways to pass their time. For advertising professionals José Guerrero, Emma Calvo and Irene Llorca, this posed as a rare and unique moment that needed to be documented. "At the beginning of the pandemic in Spain, we noticed people expressing their experience with COVID-19 through art. To us, this was a valuable testimony that could not be lost. That's how we came up with the idea of creating a global museum that would gather all this art - and the feelings, thoughts and reflections - to be remembered in the future," describes Llorca.

Jose Guerrero, Irene Llorca and Emma Calvo

The trio - who met while pursuing a course in creativity at Brother Barcelona - were constantly in contact with artists and their work, developing a keen eye through the years while carrying out advertising campaigns. Getting the word out for people to start sending in their works for the Covid Art Museum they say was a challenge. The selection process for choosing pieces that are exhibited isn't restricted to any particular technique or medium. Everything from illustrations, photographs and paintings to poems, drawings, animations and video make the cut as long as they're original and related to the ongoing pandemic.

Today, with over 900 documented works, the museum has also been instrumental in compelling art collaborations. "Last year, we co-curated an exhibition titled Arte na Quarentena (Art in Quarantine) with Mostra Museu on the streets of Brazil. The show united art, music and technology in different formats, bringing together works by artists of different nationalities."

The museum has also taken a special interest in Indian artists and how the pandemic has been experienced here. "The Corona Quilt Project - which was conceived during the initial weeks of the pandemic - had site-specific installations on buildings across the city of Mumbai. We were fascinated with this being used as a medium to connect people, discuss self-expression and mental health, and bring communities together," Llorca explains.

"The last thing we thought at the time of launch was that the pandemic would go on for this long. A two-week project turned into a two-year project, and it continues…," laments Llorca, while adding, "The CAM will always be there as an artistic statement of what the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic was like. A first-person account by those who lived through it and wanted to share it with others."

WHAT: The Covid Art Museum
WHERE: https://covidartmuseum.com/