apART: CREATIVITY IN ISOLATION

by Luna Coscolluela

Art was a tune that everyone could hear, a story that anyone could read, a color that no one could avoid; it was everywhere and it was everything. It lived in museums, filling white walls with window views of Starry Nights and hazy smiles of Mona Lisas. It lived in coffee shops, crooned and strummed from guitars and into microphones, echoed softly to tables for two. It lived in theaters, sung and spoken, and cried on stages to a thousand audiences who watched in awe. It lived in libraries, where students hunched over theories of evolution and children pored over tales of Neverland.

For a moment in time, art was everywhere and art was everything; until it wasn’t, or so we thought.

On the 16th day of March 2020, the entire island of Luzon was placed under the first wave of many quarantines. Frontliners rushed out to fill their roles and the rest of humanity was put on hold. Museums were shut down, live performances were canceled, theaters were closed, and library lights went dark all over the world, but art lived on.

Amid the crisis, the art community did what they do best: being creative.

Inspired by artists like Shakespeare and Frida Kahlo who had crafted some of their most notable work in isolation, artists picked up their brushes, pens, and instruments, and began creating worlds that belonged to them and only them. Visual artists turned their virtual spaces into galleries of their own, musicians made music in the comfort of their bedrooms, theaters streamed renowned stage performances online, writers retreated into their stories looking for gold, and, all over the world, art marched on.

But it didn’t stop there.

Like many times in the past, art learned the language of revolution. As systems began to crumble and cracks in society started to show, artists fought back, not only adapting to the now-changed world but also changing with it. The world of art had become a safe haven for the oppressed and a symbol of bold defiance to the oppressors.

In spite of it all, art continues to be everywhere and art continues to be everything. Art lives on, and we can only hope that it always will.