The Arts Experiences We All Need Right Now
Welcome to your comprehensive guide to fascinating arts experiences online
We’ve collated content from galleries, artists, festivals, musicians and venues so you can still enjoy the arts while you might be social distancing.
We’ll keep adding content to this article as more online arts experiences pop up.
Got a suggestion? Feel free to DM us on our social platforms with a link to any organisations or artists who are doing their thing in the digital space and we may add it to the list.
Happy browsing!
EXPLORE
The Social Distancing FestivalDiscover this online artist’s community made to celebrate and showcase the work of the many artists around the world who have been affected by the need for social distancing. Check out the streaming calendar and submit your work!
Melbourne Digital Concert HallSupport the arts with this amazing initiative – a digital concert hall run by musicians, for musicians. Concerts will be performed once, at set times, as per traditional recitals, and will be professionally streamed. Tickets are sold online for the performance and all ticket money goes directly to the artists.
A Virtual Tour of Collecting Comme with National Gallery of VictoriaExplore the innovative designs and ongoing influence of contemporary fashion label Comme des Garçons without leaving your couch! Showcasing more than 65 outfits by the visionary designer, drawn from more than 40 collections this is a stunning tour so sit back and enjoy!
Arts Centre Melbourne - Together with YouWhile their curtains are closed Arts Centre Melbourne will be sharing a series of entertaining content from their archives including full length performances, artist interviews, family activities, podcasts, curated playlists and more.
Isol–Aid Music Festival
The Berliner Philharmonica’s Digital Concert
From live concerts in some of the most amazing places in the world to documentaries and interviews, travel with Berliner Philharmonic’s Digital series - available on apps or online. Watch the trailer here.
Art Basel Online Viewing RoomsYes please! Keep an eye out for Art Basel as they launch online viewing rooms on 20 Mar for some of the most exciting art galleries. Each gallery has chosen a curatorial concept for their virtual room as individual as a fingerprint, with the added bonus of being unconstrained by the dimensions of a traditional white cube.
12 Museums You Can Visit Around the World – From Your CouchTravel across the world and get some culture while you're in your pj's (we know you are!). From New York to Amsterdam to São Paulo – go on virtual tours through some of the most famous museums in the world.
WATCH
How to See with MoMAA compelling series of videos from MoMA curators and visiting artists as they explore the galleries to explain how they see the art of our time. See the full Youtube playlist here.
Australian Ballet Digital SeasonTheir new At Home with Ballet TV digital season will stream premium-quality productions right to your couch for free. They’ve picked a selection of our most beloved and inspiring ballets, and each will have a limited two-week season on our streaming platform, Ballet TV. We’re kicking off our Digital Season with the luminous extravaganza that is David McAllister’s production of The Sleeping Beauty.
Global Citizen and the World Health Organization (WHO) have launched a virtual concert series to promote unity amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s social distancing protocols. Together, At Home features live performances from various musical artists on Insta. Check out the first of the performances from Chris Martin and John Legend!
Now you can see world-class theatre, at home, for FREE! London's National Theatre are bringing you the best in theatre online. Head to their Youtube channel where a new production will be available to stream every Thursday at 7pm UK time for a week.
Keith Haring, The NGV Waterfall and Art in the Public Space
The NGV has some amazing videos that are accessible to all! Check out this one with NGV curator, Meg Slater, and a number of contemporary Indigenous Australian artists as they discuss the legacy of Keith Haring’s work.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Livestream All Concerts!
Throughout the ban on public events, the MSO will continue to perform for you! Check out their live stream performance from 16 Mar on Youtube.
Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard Plays Daily Live Concerts
Take us back to the early 2000's please! Hang out with the lead singer as he plays daily concerts from his home for fans via Facebook. Special guests will be digitally dropping by...
Musicians and performers live streaming from their home, they accept donations and can choose to donate a percentage of their choice to a charity. If you would like to watch a show, visit their Facebook page.
Explore their deep bank of interviews with artists and curators and even video art!
Live Dance, Opera and Theatre on Marquee TV
Hit up their 30 day free trial and binge hard on all the theatre, opera and dance productions that rarely make it to Perth. We highly recommend the critically acclaimed dance/ theatre work, Betroffenheit that we brought to Perth in 2017 – you're welcome.
LISTEN
Hear Beethoven's Fidelio with West Australian Symphony Orchestra
From West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Opera Australia, Fidelio is Beethoven’s only opera and we were lucky enough to see it come to life at our 2020 Festival. Have a listen to this amazing piece of work via ABC.
Hear from Phelim Mcdermot as he is in search of the perfect question for Manchester International Festival’s podcast series. Phelim explores his dreams, and speaks to those who know him best, going to the very core of where ideas come from while he’s working on Tao of Glass.
Art Guide Australia's Podcast Series
Interesting episodes with a huge array of incredible artists. Listen here.
READ
Gurrumul’s Unique Collaborations
Were you lucky enough to see Bunggul at the 2020 Festival or Gurrumul at Lotterywest Films in 2018 and want more? We’ve collated Dr G Yunupingu’s most unique collaborations with other artists for you to enjoy.
Prince and the Revolution: John Prince Siddon Exhibition Feature
Delve into this feature by Barnaby Smith about Indigenous contemporary artist John Prince Siddon’s exhibition, All Mixed Up, at Fremantle Arts Centre.
A Biologist, An Engineer and an Artist Walk Into a Bar...
Art meets science in the ambitious installation, Bricolage. This thought-provoking exhibition invited us to consider the human body in a world beyond its control. Read the exhibition observations of Paul Boyé, a member of our inaugural Visual Arts Writing Group.
Semaphore – A Weekly Newsletter About Art in WA
Find interesting commentary and creative responses to art from Western Australia. Semaphore is made up of arts writers who are interested in writing that reflects upon artistic practice, broader cultural themes and also examines what writing can be, and what it can offer visual art.
INTERACT
Moog and Korg Synth AppsMoog Music Inc and Korg have made a few synth apps free for a limited time. Have fun exercising your mind by making some music!
MTC Virtual TourWalk the halls of Melbourne Theatre Compnay HQ in this virtual tour and explore the spaces where plays are rehearsed, sets are built, costumes are sewn, and wigs are created one strand of hair at a time.
Download Free Artist Packs Created by Some of UK's Most Famous Artists!Art is where the home is was created by UK's Firstsite and features artist created activity packs, with contributions from UK artists including Antony Gormley, Gillian Wearing, Idris Khan, Jeremy Deller, Mark Wallinger and more. These packs will give you ideas about how to get creative at home. Anyone can have a go – there are no specialist materials required, plus it’s completely FREE to download!
INTERACT
Fremantle Arts Centre Virtual Tour
Get up close to two of our exhibitions from 2020 and explore John Prince Siddon’s kaleidoscopic paintings, surreal sculptures and animal furs and see for yourself why this exhibition was the critic’s pick of the Festival. You can also enjoy an impressive selection of works on paper by Gooniyandi artist Butcher Cherel Janangoo (1920-2009), courtesy of Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency.
Take One of MoMA's Free Online Courses
Want to work your mind and out of films to watch already? The Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) is offering a series of online art courses, free of charge. Whether you are an art lover, a fan of beautiful things or you just get bored a lot, they seem an ideal way of killing some of the coming hours and days of self-isolation – not to mention equipping yourself with a raft of new artistic understanding for when you ever get to visit a gallery again.
BANNER IMAGE: INSIDE (2011) / full six-hour work by Dimitris Papaioannou. One shot. Unedited.