An Online Reaction to COVID-19: Video Culture Communities is an online video exhibition looking to explore the effects of the global pandemic on video creation and artistic spaces. The global pandemic has impacted everything and everyone worldwide, forcing film to recede to our homes and private spaces and find new ways of reaching audiences. The existence of online video communities has greatly expanded in the past year, and the internet has provided a space for art to be seen that may have previously been overlooked.  

       Video Culture Communities explores the media communities built around Isolation Diaries, New Filmmakers, YouTube Animators, and Martial Arts Films in order to discover the different artforms that may have been inspired by these unprecedented times. These programs look at how the pandemic has both hindered and inspired filmmakers and how their work has been impacted by COVID-19. How have these groups continued to connect even from a distance when we cannot meet in person?

       Through this unique curatorial event, we as Queen’s University students have been working to represent the fact that normal student life was disrupted this year and most academic and social events had to be moved online. As we know, the global pandemic has changed our daily lives, and to create a sense of community in 2020, this online exhibition will provide viewers with short films from upcoming independent artists that share their experiences and interests that have flourished through quarantine.