Will coronavirus change the way we consume culture forever?

Watching theatre from your sofa and taking a virtual gallery tour... Culture has adapted but long-term are we prepared to pay for a live-streamed event when we are so used to free content online? By David Barnett

James Corden in 'One Man, Two Guvnors' during a National Theatre at Home broadcast (Getty)

The theatres are dark. The cinemas are closed. The art galleries are shuttered, the gig venues are silent, and the festival fields lie fallow. However, culture finds a way. Over the past eight weeks those behind entertainment across the spectrum have had to innovate to bring events to people’s homes via digital and online platforms.

Cold War Steve — real name Christopher Spencer — is a popular Twitter presence thanks to his photographic collages featuring public figures and celebrities that are both surreal, satirical, and sometimes unsettling. He was commissioned by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to create three original works for them, the first of which, Benny’s Babbies, was due to be unveiled on April 18. Obviously by then, the museum had been forced to close. And the planned reveal of the two further Cold War Steve works, in May, has also been postponed.

Instead, the launch of the artwork was held online with written contributions from some of the people featured in the piece, including comedian Joe Lycett and writer Kit de Waal, with words from Spencer about how he had to adapt the planned physical exhibition to be online instead. Emalee Beddoes-Davis, the curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the museum and gallery, says: “Seeing the project reach millions, getting a few laughs and making people feel proud of the city and its collection is an extremely rewarding experience for all of us at the museum when we cannot open our doors to the public. Personally, I've found it very moving.”