Whether you’re locked down and working from home, battling toilet paper hoarders working at a supermarket, or being run off your feet working in a hospital or medical centre, Coronavirus is impacting all of our jobs. For people in the creative industries though, Coronavirus is cancelling all the events they work at, and basically wiping away their sources of income – to the point where he arts industry has called for an ‘emergency support package‘. People working in creative industries need some support now more than ever, so here’s how you can chip in.
Buy Their Work
The Sydney Writers Festival has been cancelled, so if you were looking forward to seeing a particular speaker, buy their book. Melbourne International Comedy Festival has been cancelled, so watch the specials your faves have done and grab some merch. A ton of musicians have cancelled their gigs, so stream their songs and buy some of their merch, too.
Buy photography prints, get a commission from your favorite artist, even pay for a song to be covered just for you. Paying for art is the most direct way that you can help stop the industry from coming to a complete halt.
Talk About Their Work
Of course the one flaw in the ‘buy their work’ plan is that it requires you to have money to spare, which may well not be the case. Casual workers in particular are also getting royally screwed by the pandemic, so if you can’t afford to spend money on the arts, you can help out by spreading the word.
If your fave artist, photographer, or musician is selling merch, doing a live stream, or calling our for commissions to get through the next few months, then share that message around.
We all pulled together to help our framers during the depths of the drought, and the local tourism industry after the bushfires. There might not be photos of people working the creative industry struggling with coronavirus right now, but they’re also being faced with their livelihoods being wiped out.
It’s a tough time. Be kind, and support one another.
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