The first lockdown left Hannah Taggart, a software developer from Belfast, “Zoom-quizzed out”. She also, she admits, drank too much.
The second lockdown will be different, she has promised herself. “I’ve opted to direct my energy into something I can be proud of and look back on fondly, rather than having to think again: ‘Oh God, what did I do for three months?’”
Taggart has always wanted to draw, especially comics and graphic novels. “My ideal goal is to be able to draw something for our child’s nursery, due May 2021,” she said.
She’s not alone. On the Monday after the announcement of the English lockdown, Duolingo had a 19% increase in registrations, with particular interest in the site’s bilingual podcasts and virtual lessons. Drawing, DIY, second languages … the creativity generated by the second lockdown covers multiple bases.
Open University says it is preparing for a repeat of the 622% spike in registrations for online creative subjects it received during the first lockdown, the most popular being creative writing courses, some of which had a 16-fold increase in demand; modern languages, which had an eight-fold increase; and online dance skills, which had eight times as many visitors in lockdown.
Pinterest has also had a 130% increase in viewings in the UK of “how to” videos for sewing gifts; a 115% increase for crochet gifts; and a 40% increase in searches for “how to make DIY gifts for friends”.
Kickstarter says it is expecting a surge in applications to their Inside Voices project, launched during the first lockdown to support small projects that can be run from home.
Second lockdowns were announced at different times across the UK. But with each announcement, creativity flared. When Wales went into its second lockdown, Anthony Bird, the council mayor of Cwmbran, south Wales, knew exactly what he wanted to do with his extra time at home: make a cadaver-shaped buffet bar for his daughter’s Halloween party and a Hawaiian drinks bar in the garden for when the weather improves in the summer.
Quick guide What you can and can’t do in England’s new national Covid lockdown
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New national restrictions are due to come into effect in England on Thursday, after MPs vote on them, and remain in place at least until 2 December.
What can I leave home for?
- For childcare or education, where it is not provided online.
- To go to work unless it can be done from home.
- Outdoor exercise either with household members or with one person from another household.
- For all medical reasons and appointments.
- To escape injury or harm, such as domestic abuse.
- To provide care for vulnerable people or volunteer.
- To shop for food and essentials.
- To see people in your support bubble.
- Children will still be able to move between homes if their parents are separated.
Government say the list is not exhaustive, and other permitted reasons for leaving home may be set out later. People could face fines from police for leaving their home without a legally permitted excuse.
Can different households mix indoors?
No, not unless they are part of an “exclusive” support bubble, which allows a single-person household to meet and socialise with another household.
Parents are allowed to form a childcare bubble with another household for the purposes of informal childcare, where the child is 13 or under.
Can different households mix outdoors?
People are allowed to meet one person from another household socially and for exercise in outdoor public spaces, which does not include private gardens.
Can I attend funerals, weddings or religious services?
Up to 30 people will still be allowed to attend funerals, while stone settings and ash scatterings can continue with up to 15 guests.
Weddings and civil partnership ceremonies are not permitted except in “exceptional circumstances”. Places of worship must remain closed except for voluntary services, individual prayer and other exempt activities.
Can I travel in the UK or abroad for a holiday?
Most outbound international travel will be banned. There is no exemption for staying away from home for a holiday. This means people cannot travel internationally or within the UK, unless for work, education or other legally permitted exemptions.
Which businesses will close?
Everything except essential shops and education settings, which include nurseries, schools and universities, will close.
Entertainment venues will also have to close. Pubs, restaurants and indoor and outdoor leisure facilities will have to close their doors once more.
However, takeaway and delivery services will still be allowed, while construction and manufacturing will stay open.
Parents will still be able to access registered childcare and other childcare activities where reasonably necessary to enable parents to work. Some youth services may be able to continue, such as one-to-one youth work, but most youth clubs will need to close their doors.
Public services, such as jobcentres, courts, and civil registration offices will remain open.
There is no exemption for grassroots organised team sports. Elite sports will be allowed to continue behind closed doors as currently, including Premier League football matches.
Aaron Walawalkar
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He said: “The first lockdown was just reactive. I was looking for things to keep me sane. We knew this second lockdown was coming, so I had time to plan it, learning from the first one. It’s reawakened something childlike in me that I haven’t felt in years.”
The second lockdown is a chance for others to build on what they created during the first lockdown. Thor McIntyre-Burnie, an artist and director of Aswarm, a public arts organisation in the UK, is going to use the time to launch the online project he created over the spring and summer.
He said: “Lockdown 2.0 is a perfect time to share the project with people and for them to play with it, especially as it now also has a layer about reflecting on lockdown 1.0.”
“This second lockdown will affect people’s creativity in a number of different ways,” said Meredith Graves, director of Music at Kickstarter. “Some may feel they’ve been given a second gift of more time to create. For others, the feelings stirred up by yet another lockdown and the current global political climate may energise their artistic process, and inspire new work.”
Inside Voices was particularly successful in the UK, Graves said. Since launching the initiative in April, $330,000 (£251,545) has been promised to 42 projects run from people’s homes across the UK.
The crossover from individual creativity to online entrepreneurship is beginning to show in the data, said Russell Haworth, the CEO of the domain registry Nominet.
He said: “We noted a 20% increase in registrations by individuals during the first lockdown, which suggested that people were willing to take their hobbies and interests – most popularly, dance, crafts and sewing – online and turn them into businesses.
“We expect a second increase in domain registrations of creative businesses run by individuals, specifically those targeted at customers’ hobbies, during a second lockdown,” he added.
Sandi Mann, a senior psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire and author of the books The Upside of Downtime and The Science of Boredom, believes the repetition of another lockdown might be a powerful spur to creativity.
Mann has carried out research to prove that boredom can be a creative force. “I’ve done a mini-version of lockdown near my university in Preston in the UK, where we’ve got people in isolation cubicles,” she said. “We’ve seen what happens when people are really bored, and it actually makes them more creative.
“It’s crucial not to fight that boredom,” she added. “The key to creativity is to let your mind wander, to daydream. So this period of lockdown that we’re all experiencing all over the world could turn out to be our greatest period of creativity in the whole history of mankind.”
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