It's hard right now for musicians and artists, many of whom had to cancel gigs and tours because of the ongoing shutdowns of venues. The Diving Bell Social Club, a venue on St Laurent, is hosting Stay Home Sessions, a fundraiser concert this weekend featuring artists like Hanorah (La Voix) Janette King, Dish Pit and comedians like Tranna Wintour. Tune in and make a donation here. (Suggested amount is $10, or pay what you can.) Check out the Facebook event for streaming info. Saturday, 6 to 11pm.
If you want to MAKE something, the organizers of this fall's Tout Tout Court Festival have set a daily creative challenge. Every night at 12:01am, the are releasing a word in French and in English as a theme... and they invite anyone to make a short performance and share it with the hashtags #30DaysofShorts or #30joursdecourtes. The first day's theme was "Rafistoler" or "Patch Up." Your creation could be a poem, song, dance, knitting or visual art - anything you want!
Watch former Montrealers and interfaith married comedians Eman and Jess Salomon in their joint comedy special on Crave. And British comic James Mullinger, who is based in the Maritimes but is a favourite in Montreal, has posted his latest live show on YouTube.
Many musicians are livestreaming on Facebook, Instagram and other outlets, with the content remaining up for awhile. Try searching for your faves and see if they are online... Jann Arden, John Legend and Chris Martin are some of many. The Montreal Symphony Orchestra will be streaming free shows on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, at 8pm.
Montreal's International Festival of Films on Art, which was to open in theatres on Tuesday, has put the entirety of its programming online for $30.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Art is making new content available each day on social media, like videos, podcasts, quizzes: find the morning update on Facebook or Instagram. On Fridays, they are sharing a new art-therapy activity on their Facebook, devised by the museum's art therapist, Stephen Legari.
Also, explore the Museum's most recent show, Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives virtually by tuning into the guided audio tour. And visit EducArt, a free online resource that draws links between 350 works of art in the Museum's collection and subjects like math and social sciences. There are 75 videos featuring local luminaries like author Kim Thuy.
A bevy of other Canadian museums are putting their offers online: Winnipeg's Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Art Gallery of Ontario and The Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau are making their works and exhibits available online. The Calgary Zoo is also sharing their Panda Cam, where you watch their two giant pandas, Er Shun and Da Mao, frolic for a few hours every day.
International museums like the Louvre, the Sistine Chapel, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the British Museum in London and the Hermitage Museum are also online. The Metropolitan Opera has a nightly stream. And visit Yayoi Kusama's mesmerizing Infinity Mirror installation.
And if you're looking for something different visit Open Culture, a fantastic website that lists dozens if not hundreds of free books, audio books, movies and online courses. The selection here is a mix of the classic, indie and the offbeat. Pick up a Jane Austen novel, watch the original A Star is Born or celebrate Poetry Day on Saturday by browsing through videos of poets like Maya Angelou reading their work.
With libraries closed, consider finding out if your local branch allows for ebook downloads. With my membership at the Bibliothèque nationale, I have thousands of books, audiobooks and sheet music compilations at my fingertips through an spiffy app called Libby. Maybe I'll pick up James Joyce, Sally Rooney or WB Yeats to mark the fact that we were supposed to hold the St Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday!
Why not tackle a baking project? Chef Ricardo shared this bagel recipe with Andrew Carter earlier this week. He also has resources up at his site for what to stock up on when picking up food.