Bringing soul to your sofa

It’s a huge ask to get all 5 million of us to keep calm and stay home, stay healthy, stay sane, stay happy, stay cultured, stay inspired, stay motivated, stay well… so creatives everywhere took on the challenge.
In a matter of days, and flowing straight from the creative heart of Aotearoa, tonnes of arts-gold flooded the internet, giving us ample reasons to keep calm and stay home.
Here are our top picks of Kiwi talent (and here’s one for kids) bringing soul straight to your sofa.
Well done artists, mission accomplished.
NB: There’s so much out there at the moment we couldn’t list everything, so alternatively, you can search up your favourite artists and find the online initiatives they’ve set up for you to tap into.
NZSO Engage@home (Wednesdays 7:30pm)
Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra Enchore livestreams (Thursdays 8:00pm)
RNZ Concert (all day, every day)
Vodaphone Lounge Jams (Thursdays 7:00pm)
Centre for New Zealand Music: Sounz virtual concert hall
Six60 Saturdays (Saturdays 8:00pm, IG Live)
Circa Theatre’s Lockdown Live (Wednesdays, 11:00am)
Shakespeare’s Globe online plays: Includes Ngakau Toa’s production of Troilus and Cressida in Te Reo Māori, directed by Rachel House
Creative Mercury Bay: Bubble Bites (Thursdays, 5:30pm)
Doom & Bloom Improv
RNZB Live in your living room: Free online ballet broadcasts (Fridays, 7:30pm; Saturdays, 1:30pm; Sundays, 10:30am)
Waikato Māori Arts Collective: How to Draw with Mike Matchitt
Ngā Taonga: Sound and vision online exhibitions
Te Papa: Online collections
Auckland Art Gallery: Online collections
NZONSCREEN: A collection of screen history and culture
Ngā Taonga: Online exhibitions
Lockdown Film Festival: Pantograph Punch’s list of films to watch
Circuit Podcast: Film and video Aotearoa
Better off Read: Conversations with authors
Breaking Art
The Jealous Curator
Creative Pep Talk
The Conversation Art Podcast
99% Invisible
Aotearoa Arts and Events During the COVID-19 Crisis
Mana Moana Creatives
Lockdown – NZ Creative Community