About the project – artincovid.com

About the project

The international cultural project HELPFUL ART IN COVID maps art from the Covid pandemic period in the world

The first traveling exhibition of the Helpful Art in Covid project mapped art from 60 countries and showed over 2,000 works by hundreds of artists. The exhibition was presented at the multicultural festival in September September and aims to travel to other cities and countries, connect with local artists, and continue to map this new kind of art Art Covid.

Art helps us survive Covid in a better mood and with common sense

The pandemic affected all states, and artists around the world responded with specific forms. The works are fantastic, capturing the thoughts and impressions that the creators had during the pandemic. We have prepared the international traveling exhibition Helpful Art in Covid not only as a thank you to the artists, but also with the aim of mapping the unique results of the creative process in our country and in the world.

The exhibition shows the development of new art related to the pandemic, paintings, graffiti, illustrations, posters, photographs, sculptures, design, videos, various initiatives and campaigns. It also maps many interesting projects, such as live streams of concerts and discussions, car cinemas, car concerts, music videos that were shot remotely, the front pages of world media, or educational videos.

International and Czech involvement of organizations

The project was joined by the world organization UNESCO, which provided its projects "The Next Normal", "DontGoViral" and "ResiliArt. The exhibition includes projects of Czech Television and the Seznam.cz portal. The project was created in cooperation with the Motol University Hospital, under the auspices of Jan Horník, Vice-President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic.

ČVUT supplied new prototypes of its nanotricks and respirators. The Embassy of the Kingdom of Thailand was the first representative to join the project, securing works from its own country together with the Thai Ministry of Culture.

Helpful Art in Covid was born thanks to a face mask on Lennon's wall

„The Helpful Art in Covid project and exhibition was created thanks to a face mask we created on the Lennon Wall in Prague in the spring of 2020, during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. We all had to put on a face mask. So we symbolically placed it on the portrait of John Lennon on the wall, which has been a symbol of freedom and love for our country for decades. Photographs of Lennon's veiled wall have traveled the world and been published in hundreds of media. It is the most famous and largest Czech veil. Thanks to that, I became part of groups of artists whose works focused on Covid-19. Dozens of works from many countries began to walk me on social networks every day, supporting millions of people around the world in difficult times and helping us to survive mentally.

So I decided to start mapping this new Art Covid art, ”says artist Pavel Šťastný, author of the project and exhibition. The exhibition was based on an online selection by the French collector Blaise Runart, who also added a face mask from Lennon's wall in Prague. Runart from the island of Réunion supported the Helpful Art in Covid project with his collection. The collection had over 1,000 works of art. We are further mapping this new kind of Art Covid.

A collection of face masks - The Czech phenomenon of household face masks

Face masks have become a separate field of art. In the spring of 2020, we dealt with their shortage in a typical Czech way, ourselves. Face masks and other protective equipment were made at home by the whole nation. Old sewing machines came out and whole families, actors, singers and designers began to sew the face masks. They did not sew only for themselves, but also for their friends, for hospitals, retirement homes and for rescue services. This created the Czech phenomenon of domestic drapes, unique in the world.

The exhibition also includes a collection of face masks from dozens of famous personalities, such as actresses Jana Plodková, Petra Nesvačilová, Ester Geislerová, members of the bands Wohnout, Poetika and Harlej, TV presenter Jakub Železný, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand in Prague J.E. Ureerat Chareontoh, Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Belgrade Tomáš Kuchta, Vice-President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Jan Horník and others. At the opening, students from the Michael Academy of Art sewed their designs of original face masks.

Art is therapy and helps us survive the Covid pandemic, fear and insecurity about our lives, health, families and friends around the world.

It connects us at a distance which is one of the most valuable feelings that we are not alone in this.

THANK YOU TO ARTISTS WORLDWIDE!

EXHIBITION PLAN

WHEN COVID PERMITS US

1. PRAHA ZÁŘÍ - 8. až 28. září 2020
2. PRAHA - OD KOTVA
3. OSTRAVA - OSTRAVICE
4. ABROAD