Florence McCrae

While the outbreak of Covid-19 has resulted in the closure of 95 per cent museums across the world, alternative ways of exploring culture are becoming commonplace. From the Google Arts and Culture app, to the almost daily Instagram live videos from a range of institutions, culture has not disappeared, simply changed its form.

A novel by Simone de Beauvoir, deemed “too intimate” to be published during her lifetime, will be released next year.

Whoever wrote the old theatrical adage, “The show must go on” clearly did not anticipate a global pandemic. They were by no means alone, with those across the world taken off guard by the outbreak of Covid-19, and its subsequent global impact.

At the beginning of 2020, the art world was looking forward to over 40 Biennials across the globe. The advent of Covid-19 has resulted in the cancellation of almost half, with more in the works at the time of writing. From São Paulo’s Bienal to the Front International, in Cleveland, exhibitions across the world have made the decision to delay or postpone in response to the global pandemic.

London’s Charles Dickens Museum is one of many who fear closure as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The collection, housed in the home of the author, has been financed by ticket sales, however, with no visitors since March, the director fears permanent closure may be on the cards.

The UK has been under lockdown for almost 40 days and 40 nights, and while the prime minster announced we are “past the peak” of the virus outbreak, it is unclear when we be able to return to some semblance of normality.

It is estimated that in 2020, over 1.4 trillion photographs will be taken across the world. Were this the work of one person, their life span would exceed 45,000 years. Thankfully, we have the held of around eight billion other people to take selfies with us.

Captain Tom Moore, who has raised almost £30 million for the NHS, celebrates his one hundredth birthday today.

Patrons of the arts are a diverse lot. From Elton John to Ed Sheeran, those who chose to support the art world span generations and genres; however, some are more surprising than others.

For the first time in the Oscars’ history, films will no longer be required to be shown in cinemas to be eligible for an award.

Most people are willing to settle for a cake and a couple of cards for their birthday. Stephen Sondheim, on the other hand, had an entire gala to celebrate his special day.

Carrie Symonds and her fiancé Boris Johnson have announced the birth of their first child together, a "healthy baby boy".

It has been revealed that Dr Dirk Obbink, a former Classics professor at the University of Oxford, was awarded a £434,000 loan by Christ Church college prior to his arrest in March.

Amid the Covid-19 outbreak, the country’s national treasures are coming out to play, lifting the nation’s spirits during these most uncertain times. Alan Bennett, the playwright responsible for The History Boys, Lady in the Van and others, has sanctioned the reinvention of his Talking Heads series, while observing the government mandated social distancing measures.

For the past two years, Michelle Obama has earned the title of the most admired woman in the United States. Be it her role as America’s first lady, spanning nearly a decade, or the publication of her memoirs, Becoming, an instant best seller, it is clear that Obama has more strings to her bow than an Olympic archer. Following her tenure as FLOTUS, she made the decision to work with Netflix in a producing capacity, alongside her husband Barack.