CBC responds to isolation with Arts Un-contained
By Laura Stricker
While physical distancing may mean that we’ve never been further apart, our national broadcaster is working to bridge a part of that gap with an innovative collection of arts and cultural programming designed to connect and inspire audiences and support artists during these unprecedented times. Canadians from coast to coast appear to be down with the initiative, having eagerly answered the call to join in a virtual, singalong organized by the CBC earlier this spring. Participants picked the tune – Lost Together by Blue Rodeo – and submitted their YouTube videos to jam with the band’s acclaimed frontmen, Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy.
The Great Canadian Singalong is part of the CBC’s Art Uncontained initiative, launched by the broadcaster earlier this April in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its first week, the video, which features hundreds of Canadians, had over one million views on Facebook and was shared over 13,000 times.
“When the news (about COVID-19) hit and we all were sent home, the individual units that deal with the different arts communities at CBC all had their own response to what was going on,” explains Andrew D’Cruz, an executive producer with CBC Arts.
“We were all quickly pivoting in how we produce content, the kinds of stories we tell, and we realized that there was value in bringing it all together under one umbrella and making it a one-stop shop for the various initiatives we were all doing to support the different artistic communities…Art Un-contained is a response to isolation.”
The new site is an arts enthusiast’s dream, comprising a range of material that includes fine art, theatre, literature, poetry, music, video and podcasts. It also incorporates resources to help artists impacted by COVID-19, while featuring original content to showcase how Canada’s creative community is handling and responding to the global pandemic.
Digital Originals, created in partnership with the Canada Council of the Arts, showcases projects supported by the Council’s Digital Originals fund. Artists, groups and organizations were able to apply for micro-grants of up to $5000 in order to help them adapt their work for sharing with an online audience.
PlayME: The Show Must Go On from CBC Podcasts, features adaptations from Canadian playwrights whose projects were disrupted by COVID-19. The program intends to recreate the way audiences experience live theatre through what it calls “bingeable audio dramas.” Already there are dozens of podcasts on the site, including Christopher Morris’ The Runner, about the Israeli organization Z.A.K.A, and Crawlspace by Karen Hines, about home ownership.
There’s also COVID Residencies, video interviews with artists discussing and sharing the impact isolation is having on their work, and the Pandemic Diaries, which shares personal essays from artists and writers penned during this time of isolation. D’Cruz says he’s particularly proud of how quickly his team pulled together the COVID Residencies series. “We went to a bunch of artists, some of whom we’ve covered before and some of whom we haven’t, and asked them what effect isolation was having on their practice. We contracted them and paid them as if they were videographers, and then they shot a bit of a day in the life, shot an interview of themselves, and also took photos of how they’re working,” he explains.
“They talk in a really relatable way about what’s going on with them right now and how they are responding in their practice. We turned that around very quickly and found a way to reflect where people were at. It’s been shifting nicely over time. Every week the tone changes – some weeks it’s more dark, other times there’s more optimism – it really depends on the person.”
To date, COVID Residencies features sculptors, photographers, actors, illustrators, tattoo artists and dancers, among others. New residencies are added to the site regularly. “The residencies have had a great response,” adds D’Cruz. “I think what’s propelled them is that they’re extremely relatable and that other artists can see themselves in these stories.”
Of course, there are also a number of resources for music lovers. In addition to the Singalong, Inside Voices hosts a series of videos where children are taught to sing the Pan Am games theme song “Together We Are One” at home. Families can then upload their own karaoke videos using the hashtags #CBCMusicclass and #CBCkids, with some uploads being selected for future broadcast. Quarantunes, featured on CBC Music and CBC Radio-One, plays the music that Canadian artists are creating during this period, and a regularly updated play list keeps audiences aware of when their favourite musicians plan to livestream a performance.
Another grant program that the CBC is supporting through Art Uncontained is Art Apart, an initiative by the National Theatre School of Canada. One hundred emerging artists received $750 grants to present a piece of art online. Works include radio dramas, performance pieces, a multimedia web series, and even a talk show where the host is inebriated while interviewing sober guests.
Lastly, in response to museums being closed across the country, the feature, Scenes from an Exhibition, is taking viewers on virtual tours inside some of Canada’s well-known galleries and museums. “[In] Scenes from an Exhibition, we partner with a bunch of galleries – typically larger institutes like the ROM [Royal Ontario Museum] and the AGO [Art Gallery of Ontario], the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery, and The Rooms in St. John’s, Newfoundland,” says D’Cruz. “We do a remote interview with one of their curators and then do a gallery tour of some of their favourite works that really speak to them right now, that they would like people to see but they can’t because the doors are closed.”
While the arts and supporting artists is always important, D’Cruz says he believes that is even more evident now, in the COVID-19 era. “I think the case has been clearly made that the arts are the only thing getting a lot of us through this. It may not be the fancy capital A-arts all the time…but the arts, broadly speaking: the books we’re reading, the TV shows and movies we’re watching…this is the only way most of us are getting through this. I think that this time has really shown us the value of the arts, and I don’t think we’re going to forget it anytime soon.”
Over the coming months, CBC’s Art Uncontained will continue to be updated regularly with new features and resources. “Watch the space, because we are going to be launching many cool initiatives,” says D’Cruz. “There’s a lot of creativity happening right now. People are stuck at home and coming up with all kinds of amazing things, and you’re going to see that reflected throughout the summer.”
To experience Art Uncontained, visit www.cbc.ca/arts/artuncontained
To contribute to the project, or if you have suggestions for future content, email cbcarts@cbc.ca.
