Responding to Coronavirus Crisis — Resilience and commitment to children and youth
Since the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic, I have been thinking what it means for our audiences specially children and youth. How will it impact our arts offering? How will it change us and our audiences? As we produce various large scale festivals and exhibitions year around, how we will be impacted with the idea of not coming together and maintaining distance. While the whole point of our work is based on bringing people together to celebrate the excellence of arts and creative expression.
We are living in uncertain times, we do not know what the new normal will be, and how we will come out of the pandemic? We are sure for one thing though, we will not be the same whenever it ends. This only certainty challenges us to think new ways of what we are passionate about, and evolve to remain relevant and find new ways for culture and arts to thrive.
Resilience does not mean that we survive and wait for the situation to return to as it used to be. Resilience demands innovation to succeed in new realities. I tried to think about each project of The Little Art in the new light, and in the past 3 months, devised new forms with the amazing team and rolled out some ideas for our audiences.
In the past few years of my journey, I always saw problems interesting as if you solve one, it will push you ahead and set you apart from many others. I welcome failures as great opportunity to learn and grow. I always remember this verse from Mizuta Masahide, a 17th century Japanese poet, who wrote; “My barn having burned down, I can now see the moon.” My barn also burned down many times in the past few years, and I always see what I can find from the ashes and around.
I believe we are taking this opportunity of time in finding new possibilities, and when we return to the post-Covid-19 new normal, these innovations will be added as the expansion of our projects. I hope that time will not be that far, so that we have courage and resources to continue as an organization till then.
Among many more to come, here are some of the current happenings that we have designed for teachers, parents, children and youth. These are in various art forms i.e. discussions, visual arts, filmmaking and theater, all of it is adopted to the current reality.
Be engaged, and keep us going!
Shoaib Iqbal
Founder, The Little Art
