Pandemic Panels

Theatre Activists Respond to a Year of Protests and COVID

We are living through unprecedented times in the midst of a global pandemic. Even as public health restrictions around the world have sought to isolate and physically distance us, we are finding new ways of reshaping collectivity and sharing presence. The pandemic has further laid bare the inequities of our social systems. In many parts of the world this has also been a time for reimagining equality. There have been mass protests in various countries in the last twelve months, concerning the fate of democracy and justice for all people.

In a year-long series of intimate, online conversation, we explore how arts communities are using a series of strategies to address the idea of collectivity in the present moment. From Minneapolis, New Delhi, Santiago, Nairobi, Wellington and Hong Kong, theatre activists share how their ongoing work has been transformed under the current moment. Together we think through how the arts can reshape our future world. Pandemic Panels, curated by Prof. Shayoni Mitra, brings together faculty from the departments of Theatre, Architecture, Religion, and Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures across Barnard College to join in these conversations as part of our ongoing exploration of how to be a more engaged, empathetic and informed citizen of the world.