Art galleries, museums and live music help us live a virtual life in self-isolation

Coronavirus has confined most Tasmanians to their homes but that doesn’t mean you can’t still visit art galleries or take dance lessons.

IF you’re desperate to tour your local art gallery, take a dance class, entertain the kids, enjoy some live music or visit a market you can still safely do those things … from the comfort of your living room.

There has been an explosion in the number of live local streaming services since the coronavirus outbreak, giving self-isolating Tasmanians access to more local online content than ever before via platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and Handmark Gallery are both running virtual tours for armchair visitors, while at Mona, footage of Tim the tattooed guy is being live-streamed daily.

Many dance and theatre schools, including House of Dance and ExitLeft, offer online lessons, giving students a chance to perform together despite the annual Southern Tasmanian Dancing Eistedfodd being cancelled.

Online yoga, pilates and bootcamp classes are booming.

The Bream Creek Farmers Market will run its first online market on Sunday, complete with online shopping and live local music. Salamanca Market also has a new online presence.

Meanwhile there are live shows from Makebelieve Children’s Entertainment, interactive board game demonstrations from pop culture store Area 52, online crafting sessions from Frangipani Fabrics, art classes with Colour and Cork, live stand-up from Side Splitting Comedy, virtual scenic flights with Par Avion and family-friendly cooking demonstrations from Eloise Emmett.

TMAG acting communications manager Kath Uziallo (holding the camera) and senior curator of art Mary Knight.

These local platforms are helping provided a sense of connection among Tasmanians stuck at home due to COVID-19 and are providing welcome relief for parents who are looking for innovative ways to keep children entertained during a school holiday period devoid of the usual activities like bowling, mini golf, camping and trips to the playground.

TMAG director Janet Carding said museum staff had provided two Facebook Live Mystery Tours so far, introducing followers to fascinating facts about marsupial carnivores in the Tasmania: Earth and Life gallery and the Thylacine gallery.

The live tours continue every Wednesday at noon.

“We know that TMAG is a much-loved institution, and we want to make sure that people don’t miss out on enjoying the museum and our collection,” Ms Carding said.

“Our staff are experts at communicating in person, but this is a chance for them to experiment and learn with new mediums.”

She said the museum had received “wonderful, positive feedback” about the tours from teachers watching with their students.

Mrs Bee has been streaming free live shows on Facebook.

Handmark Gallery owner Allanah Dopson said the 35 paintings in Jock Young’s new Sunlight exhibition were “absolutely joyous” and would bring colour and light into Tasmanian homes.

She said artists typically spent 12 months preparing for an exhibition, so having galleries closed was devastating.

But she said art enthusiasts could now take online tours of Handmark’s Salamanca and Evandale galleries and see interviews with artists, with new exhibitions every two weeks. There’s also a delivery service for those who want to purchase art.

Makebelieve children’s entertainer Michelle Pears has been performing for 25 years. But the arrival of coronavirus meant her income suddenly dried up as all her gigs were cancelled.

Rather than sit and cry, she decided to do something useful. She figured if she was feeling sad and overwhelmed then lots of kids would be too.

So, her alter-ego Mrs Bee began streaming free live shows on Facebook, weekdays at 10am.

Her interactive shows, filmed in her spare bedroom, encourage children to make art and share their work with others.

“It’s gone gangbusters,” Ms Pears said.

“People are tuning in from all over the place.”

She’s had viewers from most Australian states. About 70-80 children watch live each day, with up to 1500 watching each video at a later date.

“It’s cheering me up and hopefully it’s cheering families up as well,” Ms Pears said.

“With the world gone crazy, seeing Mrs Bee every morning is a constant in the children’s world and they love it.”

Artist Jock Young with his oil painting exhibition titled Sunlight at the Handmark Gallery. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

Hobart demographer and mum of three, Lisa Denny, said it was great to see so many virtual experiences, particularly those fostering interaction between users to help build a sense of community.

She, like many parents, will embrace online offerings for kids during the school holidays.

“We’re going to need something for children to do,’’ Ms Denny said.

“For me, those sort of things will be very attractive and those unconscious learning experiences for kids will be very valuable … they will contribute to many parents’ sanity, I’m sure.”

But she warned the wealth of resources could become overwhelming for parents who were already busy juggling work and homeschooling.

Ms Denny said it would be interesting to see, once the COVID-19 threat passed, whether people continued to gravitate towards online connections or instead opted for more face-to-face interaction.

“People say ‘when will we go back to normal?’ but we’re never going to return to what was before,” she said.

“That might not necessarily be a bad thing – what we’re experiencing now will shape us going into the future. We’re creating a new normal.

“It might be that we end up using these virtual communities more. Or it might be that we do speak to people in our neighbourhoods and say hello. Maybe we’ll have a greater appreciation for a physical community that had been lost.”