Proximity and Distance

Brazil has withstood the virus. When a kiss on the cheek could become synonymous with death, the population has to face the necessity to rethink socialising. Within this new reality, visual artist Rosana Paulino asks: What does it mean to be close and what does it mean to be distant?

What role will state and society play in a post-COVID era? Kwang Sun Joo speaks about the meaning of freedom and rights in South Korea and why we should be thinking about a new world order.

The pandemic of 2020 befell in a hyper networked world, whose buzzword was, connected. The distance we were meant to observe for fear of infection, revealed the disconnections, which teem beneath the surface of networks and visible mobilities.

While its long-term impacts of the pandemic remain difficult to predict, sociologist Jan Paul Heisig discusses how COVID-19 has spotlighted previously unnoticed issues in German society, how it has changed social interactions, and how these changes interact with preexisting social inequalities.

Associations, effects, outlooks - what do the Indian author Paromita Vohra, the South Korean professor of philosophy Kwang Sun Joo, the Brazilian artist Rosana Paulino and the German professor of sociology Jan Paul Heisig associate with COVID-19 and the worldwide pandemic in their countries and in a global context?

Throughout the world, especially in Brazil, social media algorithms have contributed to the rise in political radicalism, polarisation, and eroding human relationships. Why are networks keeping people away from each other when they could be bringing them closer together?

In 2020, as measures to contain the corona virus dominated social life, many people began to connect even more online. In an interview Dr Doo-Hun Choi, professor of journalism and broadcasting at Konkuk University in Seoul, speaks about the development of digital rooms in South Korea.

During the pandemic, museums opted for more open spaces and drew in a portion of the Brazilian population which is traditionally distant from art. On social media, the user substituted the visitor: actively demanding, provoking, and questioning curatorial strategies.

How do museums remain a place of encounter and exchange - even in a digital, post-pandemic world? An interview with Leeji Hong, curator of the National Museum of Contemporary Art Seoul (MMCA).

How can artistic productions be staged and brought to their audiences when everyone is forced to social distance by the pandemic? Florian Geiger, a dramaturgist and co-founder of the AMP Dance Company, describes an innovative new format that brings dance closer to audiences than ever before – beyond the big city theatres.

The outbreak of the pandemic transformed our daily lives: Within families, at work, during free time and in interactions with each other - we experience ramifications and upheavals everywhere. The definitions of closeness and distance seem to have altered. Srishti Gupta Roy takes a closer look at how and where exactly. The illustrator examines diverse areas of life and artistically implements new proximity and distance behaviour in these spheres.

“Corona Rhapsody” is a contribution to the discussion on the question of what has changed in our society since the pandemic. The photographer Rafael Heygster has captured various scenes of public life and diverse social situations.

There are many sayings and proverbs that we use almost on a daily basis without thinking of the meaning behind them. For many of them an image instantly springs to mind – and sometimes that image is incomprehensible, amusing or just wrong. Yet, proverbs are a core element of every language culture. Four artists approach a different language culture in the form of illustrations. This is how Beatrice Davies from Germany and Nik Neves from Brazil got to know each other. On the other hand, Anjali Mehta and Jinyoung Choi try to overcome cultural distances with the drawing pencil. Despite all the geographical distance, the results reveal one or two things they have in common.

People never worked remotely as much as they did throughout the pandemic. Now, professionals working from home are just as available as when they were working from the office. In many cases, even more. In the end, what is gained and what is lost when work does not require physical proximity?

As brick-and-mortar educational institutions remained shut, digital education became the new normal. Filmmaker and author Paromita Vohra starts the letter exchange by answering how sustainable this model in India is. Will digital learning close or intensify the educational gaps or take a new form altogether?

Brazilian artist Rosana Paulino answers the question posed by Indian author Paromita Vohra: "Which questions regarding Brazil's education system arise as a result of the pandemic?" Here, the issue of social inequality in the education system becomes particular apparent. However, the internet also creates new opportunities.

South Korean philosophy professor Kwang Sun Joo answers the question posed by Brazilian artist Rosana Paulino: “How do parents in South Korea react to their new role as digital educators alongside teachers? How are families supporting students in regard to an educational setting that places strong emphasis on digital content?” It becomes clear that digital education causes isolation and poses major challenges for single parents.

Jan Paul Heisig, Professor for Sociology at Freie Universität Berlin, answers questions raised by the South Korean philosophy professor Kwang Sun Joo: ”In the era of digital learning has the social inequality in Germany increased its influence on education? If so, how has it increased? And what can be done to solve this problem?” While school closings seem to have had negative effects on learning outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged students, there might also be some positive long-term effects of the crisis.

Today, children and adolescents are growing up in the midst of restrictions on physical contact and bans on recreational activities. What will they remember once it’s all over? How will their experiences shape the collective memory? In her comic, the illustrator Beatrice Davies looks for answers.

Along with the coronavirus, a wave of helpfulness spread through German neighbourhoods in 2020. But will the new solidarity continue “post-corona”?

In some Afro-Brazilian religions, certain funerary rituals cannot be shared on social media. Among indigenous communities, traditions associated with death were made invisible due to the virus. In Brazil as a whole, there was more talk about the number of deaths than about ways to mourn them.

A funeral director talks about grief counselling and saying goodbye to loved ones during the pandemic in Germany, how several things had to change and why a personal face-to-face contact is difficult to replace.