Florence McCrae

Side effects of quarantine may include baking your own bread, watching everything on Netflix and struggling to concentrate. The last of which, has become a particular issue within the art world, according to Turner prize winner, Dame Rachel Whiteread.

Of all the places to hear the views of Lin-Manuel Miranda, the social media platform, Tumblr, may not be the first place one would turn. Yet in 2015, with the newly successful Hamilton taking over Broadway, Miranda threw his hat into the ring on one of theatre’s most disputed models.

A matter of days after countrywide lockdown was announced, Craig Hassall, the chief executive of the Royal Albert Hall, launched a series of concerts in quarantine. The live online concerts, which have hit more than half a million views in their first few weeks, have captured the imagination of the country.

The emergence of Covid-19 has provided the art world with sometime previously coveted – time. However, for those who have been offered prestigious residencies prior to the pandemic to ensure self-selected isolation, the current situation is more suffocating than inspiring.

For the past 50 or so years, artistic duo Gilbert and George have made a habit of traversing the streets of London. Both well into their eighth decade, the pair have made the decision to self-isolate in accordance with government guidelines in their house on Fournier Street. These unusual circumstances have by no means deprived them of artistic inspiration.

Unless you are American, the fourth of July is not a particularly significant date. A Saturday, almost six weeks from now, the day itself is quite unexceptional. However, under new government guidelines, 4 July will now be pencilled into the diaries of the great and the good in the cultural sphere – it is the earliest possible date that museums and galleries can be reopened for the public, while obeying strict guidelines.

Gone are the days of crowding round the Rosetta stone, or vying for a photograph of the Mona Lisa. Indeed, selfie sticks have swiftly been replaced by face masks, as museums across Europe slowly reopen in response following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Five years ago, Alexander Hamilton was one of the lesser known founding fathers of America. Now, thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s trailblazing musical, Hamilton’s name and his story are known far and wide.

For the past 56 years, Maximiliaan Martens has been absolutely besotted by the work of Jan van Eyck. Seeing the Ghent Altarpiece, arguably van Eyck’s most famous piece, one cannot help but understand why.

Leading musicians are expected to perform at Wigmore Hall as part of the BBC’s “empty hall” series, a concert set that sees leading musicians return to a London stage for the first time since lockdown commenced.

For almost half his life, Tom Phillips has been illustrating A Humument, a Victorian novel, which he charged himself with illustrating each and every page. A project he started in 1966, Phillips completed his project in 2006, covering the pages with a range of drawings, paintings, and collage.

Stanley Johnson, father of prime minister Boris Johnson, has announced his 1982 novel, The Virus, will be republished this summer, after a two-week hunt to find a publisher.

Two joint initiatives performed by officers from Europol, Interpol, and the World Customs Organization, in addition to a range of national police forces, has resulted in the arrest of 101 individuals and the recovery of over 19,000 items of archaeological and artistic significance.

Over the past century the Pulitzer Prize has recognised the great and the good in journalism, literature, and musical composition. Now, for the first time ever, they have added audio reporting to the list of awards, the first of which has been won by “This American Life”.

Since its foundation in 1759, the British Museum has seen over three hundred million visitors cross its threshold. Its closure on 17 March as a result of the countrywide lockdown has changed the museum’s role almost beyond recognition.