Last week, Culture In Quarantine took us behind the doors of our national institutions through BBC Four’s Museums in Quarantine and a #MuseumFromHome day of live activity with hundreds of museums across the whole UK.
The public appetite to see how our collections and exhibitions are faring in lockdown is overwhelming - for anyone who hasn’t yet seen our Titian documentary or Mark Gatiss on Audrey Beardsley, I’d strongly recommend them. Half a million people have watched each episode of Museums In Quarantine so far and the #MuseumFromHome social activity topped Twitter.
This weekend, our teams are flat out again supporting the Big Book Weekend - a virtual book festival with household names as well as emerging writers - with content across our services. And then we’re straight into one of the most ambitious Culture in Quarantine projects yet...
Next week, thousands of free events for Get Creative - a national participatory arts campaign supported by the BBC - were due to take place around the country. The campaign has gathered momentum since it launched five years ago and has proven central in proving the connection between everyday creativity and mental wellbeing. Due to lockdown those physical events are unable to take place - and yet, as we all struggle with the hardships of loss, pain and missing loved ones - our need for them has never been greater.
Instead, Get Creative has refocused as Get Creative At Home. Despite - or rather because of - lockdown, over 300 activities to participate in at home will be available online. The BBC is providing the platform as well as a number of special projects, and there are three I’m particularly excited by:
Get Creative At Home
The first is the Get Creative At Home masterclasses with world-class artists we have created for iPlayer. Antony Gormley intimately shares some of the drawing techniques that underpin his work, Jools Holland provides a beginner’s guide to the piano that is impossible to watch without going in search of a keyboard of some sort, potter Clare Twomey shows how to make pots with marzipan, academy nominee Cynthia Erivo and RADA are planning an unforgettable lesson in acting, artist Rana Begum provides practical tips for watercolours, and designer Paul Smith tells us how he - and we - can find inspiration for great ideas.
You Got The Love
We are also inviting everyone to join in with a special rendition of You Got The Love, the song immortalised by Florence Welch and before her Candi Staton. The project is a collaboration led by BBC Orchestras and Choirs, with Katie Derham, Owain Wyn Evans and Craig Charles all contributing too. Anyone can play along, or make something in response, and upload footage to be incorporated into a special film that will play on BBC Four next Thursday night.
Life Drawing Live
Finally, BBC Four’s Life Drawing Live - a huge success earlier this year (although it seems a lifetime ago) is back on 12 May at 8pm. Lachlan Goudie has this video to share with you about what you’ll need to get drawing along with us.
There is much more besides. On local radio, each station is encouraging audiences to make their own VE day bunting in time for the bank holiday and Bitesize is doing creativity lessons to help parents who are home schooling. All these sessions, programmes, videos, offer an amazing way to get into creativity and a vital way for everyone everywhere to explore how creative they can be with the BBC, through Culture In Quarantine.
Have a creative bank holiday and weekend - I’ll be trying out the beginner’s version of You Got The Love on our piano - definitely our most ambitious tune yet... as the previous best was an orchestration of Happy Birthday for one instrument and one finger.
