Jeanette Bisschops
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
curatorial fellow at new museum
Social distancing in Amsterdam means finding myself weaving and swerving around others in impossibly narrow alleyways. In passing, we nod, chuckle, grumble under our breath. We’re all sudden performers in a collective choreography that has just one rule, keep a six-foot distance from your partners.
But while I’m trying to dodge other people on the streets, I’m eager to find a way of being a body amongst other bodies in the art world again.
Sometimes our daily dance is guided by sticky tape on the sidewalks, and even the figures on the Corona information van in the neighbourhood of my friend Becket seem to be prescribing to do the Cha Cha.
These virtual experiences are little pleasures in a world where suddenly so much has changed, but they also remind me of how much I miss being immersed in the sensory worlds of art, and it’s hard not to worry about the future.
On my couch, I try to focus on a gallery tour on Instagram live, I finally ‘see’ some of my friends again at a digital opening, and I get excited that my friend and I decided to wear a similar outfit during a virtual conference.