MONDO Covid-19 has also closed the Museums to the public but has released creativity and among the initiatives born on the web and social media for the “Cultural Resistance“, one in particular continues to entertain the world of Art, the challenge #BetweenArtAndQuarantine or – in Dutch, mother tongue of the project – #TussenKunstenQuarantaine.

The idea, in fact, was launched by @TussenKunstenQuarantaine (behind the Instagram account, the communication expert Anneloes Officier) with the invitation open to everyone to recreate/represent an art work with objects and/or people at home and then, of course, to share the photo on social media with the hashtags of the project… An idea immediately liked by the @Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam) which publishes it on its Facebook page’s wall and which is then proposed as #GettyMuseumChallange from @GettyMuseum (Los Angeles), that invites its audience or rather its social users to choose the art work from the digital archive of its collection, with the promise of re-posting on the Museum’s Instagram profile the best creations… So the project soon goes around the world and conquers other “labels” such as #ArtInQuarantine or #MuseumFromHome; in Italy, for example, it becomes #LArteTiSomiglia promoted by MiBACT (the Italian Ministry for Culture and Tourism). It also inspires the second theme of the #MuseumWeek2020 which relaunches the game with #CultureInQuarantineMW and then in the City of Angels it flies from the mini smartphone screen to the maxi one of the boulevards and streets.

In many interviews, Anneloes has told how the idea was born and raised: “As soon as the quarantine began, the thought of having to stay at home for so long, work only remotely and reduce my social life to co-living with my two roommates Floor and Tessa, seemed unbearable. So a game came to mind, initially a challenge between friends: imitating a famous painting using three objects available at home. As example I recreated “The girl with the turban” (Meisje met de parel) better known as “The girl with the pearl earring” by the Dutch painter Johannes van der Meer, using a towel as a turban, a placemat as a cape and the garlic as a jewel.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Één schilderij, drie voorwerpen uit je huis. Deze is makkelijk.🧄 Swipe to see. #tussenkunstenquarantaine

Un post condiviso da Tussen Kunst & Quarantaine (@tussenkunstenquarantaine) in data: 14 Mar 2020 alle ore 4:57 PDT

“The idea, which started from our home in Amsterdam, soon gained global interest so that not only the Getty Museum in Los Angeles but also the Louvre in Paris, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Metropolitan in New York re-use it… Meanwhile, I receive beautiful messages from all over the world, Norway, Canada, Iran, Argentina, Spain, Mexico… from teachers enthusiastic to participate in the game together with their students, parents having fun with their children, doctors and nurses during their short moments of recreation. Even very sweet messages from people who after a hard day find themselves smiling in front of these images of art works made by other people from everywhere and shared on Instagram… If this project, in addition to bringing art into our homes, it can give rise to smiles, then it’s really worth spending my (remote) work breaks and my evenings in the management of the many contents produced and published for #TussenKunstenQuarantaine, which proved immediately therapeutic for me too, seeing these wonderful creations come to life in homes all over the world”.

So here is the genesis of this cultural challenge, initially shared via WhatsApp with a group of friends and then on Instagram, immediately noticed by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and quickly made famous all over the world by the Getty Museum.

Here’s what creatives are for. And here is a virtuous example of how cultural institutions should make use of creativity to spread and share culture (always! – not only in emergency times). Art is interesting, pleasant, engaging and even fun when told with intelligence and inclusion. And during quarantine it’s also therapeutic!

From 14th March 2020 to today, therefore in less than four months, @TussenKunstenQuarantaine – a name that in Dutch means “between art and quarantine” (inspired as a parody to a local TV program) – has collected over 280.000 followers proposing “Some homemade art” as a social space “For everyone at home who needs a relief” and it is continuously growing with over 60.000 photos shared with the hashtag #TussenKunstenQuarantaine and more than 40.000 with #BetweenArtAndQuarantine. To participate, follow three simple rules: 1. Choose artwork 2. Use 3 household items 3. Tag @tussenkunstenquarantaine. Ah, NO Photoshop!

Now you just have to get lost in the social Museum of @Tussenkunstenquarantaine that is on Instagram and Facebook. | www.tussenkunstenquarantaine.nl

In this gallery, a selection of our favourites:

And here a one-minute video showing the “making of” of some art works recreated at home by various people: