Going on week eight in the shelter-in-place experience, I find myself equally drawn to solutions and entertainment. I find myself floored on a daily basis by the generosity, innovation, and creativity in the world. Here’s some of my favorite this week.
1. Masks to Go: Business tycoon, art collector, and founder of the K11 Art Foundation Adrian Cheng is launching a new initiative that will provide millions of free medical-grade face masks to the residents of Hong Kong. 35 “Mask To Go” dispensers will be placed across 18 Hong Kong districts. To eliminate lines, pre-registered “smart redemption cards” will be issued to be redeemed for a free pack of 5 “Made in HK” medical face masks every week for vulnerable people and low-income families. The initiative will donate 10 million masks to eight NGOs across the city.
2. This Human Moment: is a series of weekly, 90-minute online gatherings each Friday created by the teams of SYPartners and WaitWhat. The collaboration’s intent is to help companies and organizations alleviate suffering and help their people cope with the COVID-19 global pandemic in their “whole lives” (of which business is a part), and flourish on the other side. Each session fuses powerful storytelling with proven human change practice and interspersed with moments of artistic performance and inspiration.
3. The Show Must Go On: Like many entertainers, the pandemic has hit the drag community. Without the ability to do nightly shows, brunches, or tour, Klarna provided a digital venue to adapt to the new reality, taking these larger-than-life personalities online. The “Breakfast for Dinner” series hosted by Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls includes everything from recipes, to lip-sync eleganzas and tutorials featuring drag icons Gigi Goode, Violet Chachki, and Aquaria.
“Having seen how much the drag community has been impacted by Covid-19, we wanted to team back up with Drag Race stars to give back,” Klarna CMO David Sandstrom said to AdWeek. “We also wanted to give them a platform to connect with their fans, and give fans an opportunity to engage with them in a fun way.”
4. Creativity in Quarantine: Chuck Amos, aka chuckielovehair, self-described as “NEW YORK BASED Cool laid back guy who plays with hair and gets money for it!” This quarantine cannot contain creativity, from a “short children’s style book” about Loving Your Hair During Quarantine to being challenged by Vanessa Williams to the #43Challenge to raise awareness for pediatric cancer. Chuckie’s IG feed is a must follow.
5. Dezeen Virtual Design Festival: Dezeen has created a platform to bring the architecture and design world together to explore how to adapt and respond to our extraordinary circumstances. The festival was kicked off with an interview with trend forecaster Li Edelkoort who believes COVID-19 has given us a “blank page for a new beginning,” and is a rolling program of talks, lectures, movies, and product launches to complement and support fairs, festivals, and conferences around the globe that have been postponed or canceled. The world’s first online design festival will run from April 15 to June 30. Prepare to be sucked into a beautiful black hole of pure inspiration.
